Only Her
by Makokam
Summary: There's this girl... she's beautiful, and smart, and funny, and we just have this connection I can't explain... there's a problem though. She's thirteen.
1. Chapter 1

**_Mako's Message: _**_Hoo boy... I'm really kinda nervous about this one. The content is a little more...uh... risque than my other stories, as you'll see. I think. And Also I hope I managed to give Dave a unique voice and this doesn't just end up sounding like Mindy talking._

_Anyway, this is important. This is a mirror story(and I'm not even sure if that's the right term) to Precocious Crush. The world around Dave and Mindy is EXACTLY THE SAME as in in Precocious Crush, but Dave and Mindy have reversed their roles. Here, DAVE has the crush, and Mindy is the one going about her life unaware of the other's feelings. This is NOT Precocious Crush from Dave's perspective._

_This story will be jumping through time a great deal, and will only touch on a few moments of Precocious Crush here and there. Important moments. Christmas, The Brawl, etc. And how they're different. _

_I think that covers everything, so... enjoy! _

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><p>It's hard for me to pull my eyes away from her. Hard for my eyes not to be drawn to her in the first place for that matter. She's just so full of life. Her eye's sparkle with intelligence, her cute little lips always half curled into a smirk like she's laughing at the world. I can't help wanting to kiss her. But then there's that whole thing with her being eleven.<p>

It's not just that she's cute as hell, there are other reasons. I mean, she saved my life, twice in fact. Things like that always leave you feeling at least _some_ affection towards the person. And after that we went and fought together in a life or death battle. Okay, she did most of the fighting, but I did get to play the big damn hero (twice), and beat the shit out of that traitorous piece of shit Red Mist.

Don't think he learned his lesson though if those e-mails are any indication.

So yeah, why wouldn't I feel an attachment to her? I mean, even if she does have Marcus I still feel responsible for her. Hell, Marcus practically made me responsible for her, "Keep an eye on her" he says. Yeah. That hasn't been a problem.

Katie's taking to her rather well. Which is... good. "It's like you've suddenly gained an adorable little sister." she says. Yeah. That just helps this problem I have with picturing myself leaning over and kissing her sooo much.

Dad has only seen her for a minute or two at a time. I told him I met her through that trauma counselor he'd been asking me to see. Guess it was a good thing I decided to start going. Not like I didn't need it after being tied to a chair, beaten, and almost set on fire.

Oh why did I have to go back to that. God. I don't think I'm creative enough to come up with what her Dad would do to me if he knew she'd slipped into one of my fantasies while jerking off.

She laughs at something and I'm back to thinking about how fucking beautiful she is. And she really is, those eyes, and her lips, and her no- her whole fucking face. Oh and her hair. My god her hair, it's just this golden blond that's abso-fucking-lutely amazing, and it's almost straight, but it has this slight bit of a curl to it that makes me want to just start wrapping it around my fingers and pull her in for a kiss and... yeah, that train of thought isn't going to take me anywhere good.

But it's not just her looks, I'm not just perving on a cute little kid. I'm not a pedophile or some shit like that. She's funny, and she's smart. Really fucking smart. It's kinda scary sometimes. I mean, she's never attended a real school before but they still skipped her ahead a year. Well, it's not really skipping since she was never in fifth to skip sixth(unless you count skipping K-6th … was she in kindergarten?) but she's a year younger than everyone in her grade but she's still acing her courses. And when she's hanging out with me and the guys she can totally hold her own. It doesn't feel like hanging out with a little girl at all. She's... one of us, in a way.

But in another way she's not like any of us. I don't think there's a single person in this school whose ass she couldn't kick. I watched her fucking slaughter a room full of grown men in, what? Thirty seconds? She probably could have done it faster but I swear she was playing with them. And that should scare me, it DOES fucking scare me, like, seriously scares me. But at the same time, it's something that's just between us. It's our secret. She knows it too. I can see it in her eyes when I catch them, a little smirk and an eye roll, "Can you believe these tools?"

We just have this little connection. Something that's just between us. We're best friends.

And I want to do things to her that would get me thrown into prison and raped for the rest of my life.

I don't even know why I have thought's like that. I mean, I have Katie. Katie is hot as fuck and I'm getting laid on a regular basis. She's still a child. Hasn't even hit puberty yet. No reason to want to fuck her.

She does have nice legs though.

Still, it's not like she makes me sprout wood. Not like Katie does. And yet I still end up thinking about her when I'm laying in bed at night.

I jerk out of my thoughts and Todd and Marty laugh as I realize she just hit me in the face with a french fry. I'd totally drifted off while looking at her.

"You awake in there in Dave?" she says. I apologize and she laughs and shakes her head, "I swear to god Dave, you're such a dumbass sometimes," and then she goes back to talking about how this girl invited her to her birthday party and where the hell did that come from cause she's never talked to this girl before.

I'm staring at her again, and I'm wondering why. I'm not into flat chested little girl. I'm not a pedophile. I'm not. If anything my preference is older women...

It's only her.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Mako's Message:_**_ Well, people seemed to like the first chapter, so here's the second. And it covers a LOT of time. Again, a big concern is if Dave sounds unique from Mindy. Also, I kinda had a little too much fun with this, and tried some different things. So, let me know what you like, what you didn't, what you think works, what you think doesn't._

_Oh, and a reminder, this is NOT Precocious Crush from Dave's perspective._

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><p>So, there have been some violent, emotional, and awkward moments between us. Well, awkward for me at least.<p>

For starters, there was when I was helping her make her Kick-Ass costume for Halloween. It wasn't that the suit was probably a size too small and fit her like a second skin. No, the problem was when I was helping her pull her hair through the hole I'd cut and sewn into her mask.

I'd wanted to run my fingers through her hair for at least a month by then, and then, here I was helping her with her mask and hair and dear god I wanted to smell her hair. It was a struggle just to not play with it, let alone smell it, or wrap it around my fingers and turn her around and pull her into a kiss.

Fortunately, I didn't have to find out if I had that much self control, because when Marcus came in, with that look of rage held in check only by the fact that he didn't know what exactly he was looking at when he saw me there with my hands in her hair and her in that Kick-Ass styled wetsuit (They actually changed the name of that design after my rise to fame) killed any thoughts I had of doing anything improper with her for the next month. Hopefully my statement of, "I'm just helping her with her Halloween costume, I swear." dismissed any thoughts that we were doing, or that I was thinking of, anything else.

Then when I found her unconscious on the ground, being beaten by some fuckhead who didn't learn his lesson the last time he fucked with her. I thought that the night we took care of D'amico was the angriest I could get, but seeing her laying there, unmoving, with the kid still wailing on her, I surpassed that by far. I guess the joke to made there would be to say my anger was "Over 9,000"(!), but I won't.

And later when I was sitting by her hospital bed, waiting for her to wake up and wondering if it was too late to go back and break that little shit's skull open, and Katie sat down beside me and said, "I didn't know you cared about her so much."

I had to stop and remember that she didn't know just how much I cared for her, but I admit, even I was surprised by how much anger and fear I felt when I saw her being beaten. I told Katie, "I didn't either."

And then on Thanksgiving, when we were sitting together on the couch and she fell asleep on me. It was odd. I didn't think about how close her face was to my dick (okay, it might have crossed my mind but I didn't dwell on it.), or taking advantage of the situation and putting my hands on her. All I could think about was how peaceful she looked, and how nice it was to just have her close to me. So all I did was sit back and watch the movie and idly stroked her hair.

When she woke up she sat up and apologized for sleeping on me. I told her not to worry about it, if she was that tired. And she smiled and then just sort of leaned against me for the rest of the movie. It was nice.

Then there was Christmas. Christmas was fun. Mindy's adoptive family was nice. She bought me a sweet revolver. Don't know if I'll ever use it though. And she loved the statue I gave her. It wasn't very hard to turn a Batman statue into a Big Daddy statue, but it seemed to mean the world to her and that would have made it worth it if I'd sculpted it from scratch.

At the end of the night, when we were leaving, and everyone else was asleep and we were saying goodbye, I couldn't help wishing there'd been some mistletoe so I'd have an excuse to kiss her, and then _she_ kissed _me_. It was just a peck on the cheek, but it set me completely on fire and I could still feel her lips on my cheek days later. But what made it even better was what she said when she did it, "Thank you. For everything."

It took everything I had to stand up and walk away.

Then, there was the time just before Valentines Day when she came into the store while I was getting ready to try our new holiday sundae. She sat down at the counter and before I even thought about how she'd take it, or what it might mean if she took it, I offered her a bite from my own spoon without thinking of any implications. But she didn't even hesitate, just took the bite without even taking the spoon from my hand. I really have no idea why that got me so turned on, maybe it was the way she looked up at me for the split second she had the spoon in her mouth, but it did and I spent the next week praying she didn't notice anything.

She liked the sundae though, so I got her her own spoon and we split it and talked for a bit. Oddly, it calmed me down in one way and got me even more excited in another. There was nothing wrong going on, nothing perverted, it was just nice, like on Thanksgiving.

And of course, there's the night she kicked the shit out of me.

I figured it would happen if she ever found out I was going out in costume again, but when she came in through my window all rage and pain all I could think was, "Oh shit." And then she punched me right in the face like she'd never done when we'd sparred. She really fucking hit me. It knocked me right off my feet. And then she started kicking me while she yelled at me. Yelling about how I was a bastard, an asshole, anything and everything she could think of. How because of me she was grounded, and Marcus was never going to let her see me again. She wanted to know how I could go and ruin our friendship like that. She wanted to know if I realized how important I was to her. How I was the only person she could connect to, who she felt normal around. And she wanted to know how I could lie to her, of all people, about this. Why I'd go back to it after everything I'd said and done to stop her from going back herself.

Even if my nerves weren't fucked up, I think her words, her expression, her tears, would still have hurt more than the beating she gave me.

I tried to explain myself. Tell her why I went out but discouraged her. How she deserved a chance at a normal life and how I couldn't just be Dave Lizewski. How I couldn't turn my back on what I'd started.

I didn't tell her that when I was Kick-Ass I didn't have to worry about Dave's problems.

And then she collapsed into my lap and hugged me.

She told me she didn't know when we'd be able to see each other again, and that she wanted to hold onto me as long as she could physically, because I wouldn't be there for her emotionally for who the fuck knows how long.

I felt like a complete douchebag. But not just because of what I'd done, but because I was getting a fucking hard on from feeling her face pressed into my neck.

After she'd left, I sat in my room and decided it would probably be for the best for both of us if I didn't see her anymore.

But of course I couldn't stay away from her. Even snuck into her room like a fucking uber pedo to talk to her about Justice Forever and Marty. And I gotta say, standing over her bed, watching her sleep, in a fucking wetsuit? I felt like I real sick fuck. So, instead of doing something like shaking her gently to wake her up, I kicked the bed. Two seconds later, after I nearly shit my suit, I was glad to see she slept with a knife under her pillow. Protect her from sick fucks who creep into the bedrooms of little girls.

She was happy and pissed to see me. She didn't want me to leave, but told me not to sneak in again.

I spent the next month feeling her glare daggers at my back. After awhile I expected it to be a real dagger she was throwing at my back.

But this, this happening right now, this has to take the cake.

I'm laying in the bed in the safehouse, and Mindy's sleeping face is maybe four inches from mine. One of her hands is barely touching my face. She looks like a fucking angel, even with the flecks of blood still on her face. And I have the boner to end all boners. And then, just to ice this amazingly awkward and fucked up cake? Do you know what woke me up? A nightmare. I was dreaming of the night in the warehouse, only instead of setting me free, Mindy put two bullets in my chest and set me on fire.

Seeing her right there in front of me when I woke scared the living hell out of me, and if she'd been awake and looking at me from that close I probably would have freaked the fuck out. She was asleep, and calm, and beautiful, and I managed to not make a complete spaz of myself.

The sun is up, and we should probably get up and go home or something, but I'm worried that if I let myself get up and go to the bathroom I'm going to end up beating off over this.

So, I decide to do something that you could argue is worse.

I reach an arm out, wrap it around her, pull her close to me, and try to go back to sleep.

I try to convince myself that I don't feel her lips smiling against my skin.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Mako's Message**: Alrighty! Here we go with the first major divergence since the opening premise. Not really anything to risque in this chapter, so if you got through the last two chapters you should have no problem with this though. __I rewrote the ending a few times, but I felt this was the only thing that didn't throw off the narrative. Still not to sure about it though, so b__e sure to let me know how it worked for you. _

_Oh, and I made two, rather small, edits to the previous chapter. Nothing important really, just something to help separate it from Precocious Crush a little_ _more_.

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><p>Ya know, it's funny. Running around with Mindy as Hit Girl... it's actually really helped me get a handle on this thing. I mean, you'd probably think it'd just encourage it. Like being in costume would put me in a "anything goes" mind set. And I'll admit that the idea of kissing her on a rooftop in costume is appealing, but it's also helped me understand just WHY I'm so into her.<p>

Again, you might think that means I'd be more likely to try and make a move on her, but it's actually made me realize why I shouldn't. And no, it's not because she'd cut my tunk off without even bothering to say "no" first.

It's because she IS different.

She's also damaged.

Her Dad raised her to be so...adult in some ways. She doesn't think twice about killing muggers. Anyone who preys on other people would get the death penalty if it was her choice. Like she's a surgeon cutting out a tumor.

It reminds me that I should be watching over her, making sure she's not going to go over the edge, not lusting after her.

Not that my thoughts don't still stray there. I just have an easier time keeping those thoughts in check, not letting them get to the point that I think about actually _doing_ something with her. Keep them in the whack off warehouse for when I can relax in the safety of my room.

So I'm good now. There's fantasy, and there's reality, and I've got them totally separated from each-

Speak of the Devil and She shall appear.

I don't know why I used Banana Splits as Mindy's ringtone. It just makes me think of her for some reason. A kids show theme covered by a punk band. How could it not?

"Hello."

"Hey Dave."

"What's up?"

"I...uh..."

Hmm... she doesn't usually hesitate. I wonder what she's thinking about.

"I needed to ask you a question about... something."

Well this is interesting.

"Sure thing. You can talk to me about anything, you know that."

"Well, it's about you and Katie. Sorta."

…

"What about me and Katie?"

"Okay, now, before I ask this, I want to make something clear. There will be no gushing, or aww-ing, or any pussy shit about me growing up or something."

Growing up? The hell? I know this can't be about her period. That happened months ago. And wouldn't Angela or Jessi be better to ask than me if it was?

"Mindy, when have I ever gushed over anything?"

"Just so we're clear."

"Crystal."

…

She's taking a long time to ask this...

"Howdidyoutwostartdating?"

The hell?

"What?"

"How did... How did you become her boyfriend?"

"That... I told you about the whole gay thing..."

"Well, yeah, I know. I still can't believe she didn't get some big black guy to beat your ass over that. But, how did... how did you move from being her not-actually-gay best friend to being her boyfriend? When was the line crossed?"

Where the hell was this coming from all of a sudden?

"Uhm, that really wasn't a normal case Mindy. It's more a miracle than an example."

"Damnit, you're not helping."

"Okay, okay, I mean...you want to know when we stopped being friends and became a couple?"

"Yes."

"Well, there was one time when she said she thought it sucked that I was gay, but that wasn't it... I guess it'd have been when she asked me to spend the night."

"You mean when you had sex."

"Uh... yeah."

"So, is _that_ normal? You have sex and that's how you go from friends to couple?"

Eesh. If Mindy was anybody else, I would feel really weird talking to her about this... it's one of those weird things about her, like what I was talking about earlier. She knows about sex. She understands the mechanics and why people want to have sex. But she totally doesn't get the emotional side of it...

"Well... no. People can be together, as a couple, and not have sex. And people who have sex don't automatically become a couple."

"..."

"Not the answer you were looking for?"

"It's not really an answer at all."

"Well, if you want to know when two people become a couple, I'd have to say it's when they find someone they'd rather spend their time with than anyone else."

"...like us?"

Oh Jesus.

"No. Not like us."

"But I like spending time with yo-"

"Why are you asking about this?"

Damnit Mindy, you are not making my life any easier.

"Oh...well, ya know how I went to the arts festival with Angela and Jessi?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, we ended up meeting up with Dillon and spending the day with him."

"And?"

"After he left, Angela and Jessi called him my boyfriend."

Oh.

"So you were wondering if he was your boyfriend."

"You make it sound really stupid when you say it like that."

"But that's it, isn't it?"

"...Yeah."

"Well, first of all, it's got to be a mutual thing. You can't be someone's girlfriend against your will."

"Well, I figured that."

"I just meant that it's not something you can just get roped into. Like being tricked into signing a contract or something. If you don't like him, he's not your boyfriend. So... do you like this Dillon kid?"

"I...don't...DISlike him."

"That doesn't sound too good for Dillon."

"Well, I mean, we had a good time. It was fun hanging out with him, and he's nice. Angela and Jessi like him. I just... don't really know him well enough to say I like him."

"Does he like you?"

"Uh... I think so. He seemed to be way more interested in talking to me than Angela and Jessi."

"Well, why don't you get to know him then? See if you like him."

"Yeah... that sounds like an idea. Thanks Dave, you're awesome."

"No problem."

"Alright, well, talk to you later."

"Later."

Huh...


	4. Chapter 4

_**Mako's** **Message: **This chapter is a perfect eample of WHY I started writing this in the first place._

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><p>I was getting ready for my morning jog with Mindy when Katie knocked on the door.<p>

As soon as I open the door she pushes through and walks to the steps and just stands there with her back to me, "We need to talk."

This is where you'd expect a joke about how that's never a good thing to hear, and the truth is that's not always true. Like the time Katie wanted to talk about which looked better on her, the black or the red lacey lingerie. That's a great example of when it was a good thing.

But I can tell this isn't one of those times.

I take her up to my room, since I'm sure this is something we'll want privacy for. Closing the door I ask, "What's up?"

"I don't like the way you've been acting."

"What do you mean?"

"You're never around."

What? "I'm always around."

"No, you're not."

"I see you almost every day."

"You see me, yes, but not for very long, and what about Todd?"

Todd? "What about him?"

She looks pissed, "Haven't you been paying attention? He was completely ignoring the world! He did nothing but play video games for four months!"

Of course I noticed, I'm not blind, but what was I supposed to do about it, "Yeah, I noticed. But we all needed something to help us cope. It's wasn't the best thing, but I don't know why you're mad at me about it."

"He's supposed to be your best friend! You two were always hanging out, but for the last year you've been spending more time with Mindy, and that was okay, at first. You'd been doing your Kick-Ass thing for awhile before that, then we started dating, so Todd and Marty spent more time hanging out, but even with Marty dating Erika he was okay, because Mindy joined your group and you four where all hanging out together."

Something happens to her face as she stops speaking. I can't figure out her expression. It's... not really sad or angry it feels like a little of both with some other emotions I just can't put my finger on.

"Then you started hanging out with Mindy more and more."

Betrayal.

"And then after Marty got hurt, you were around even less. Erika had me, you had Mindy" she practically spits her name. No way to miss the bitterness in her voice, "But what about Todd? He was all alone. Who else did he have to turn to in his life?"

I...hadn't really thought of it like that. "So, what? Do you want me to stop being Kick-Ass?" I mean, it is the biggest time consumer in my life, between training and patrols.

She looks at me like she wouldn't believe me if I said I would. I don't blame her. "No."

"What do you want me to do then?"

"I want you to stop seeing her."

Her? Mindy? "I don't spend that much with her."

"Oh, yes, you do. And I mean stop seeing her at all."

...at all? "What?"

"I don't want you spending any more time with with Mindy."

She's serious... "I ...can't do that." Even if I agreed to not see her out of costume, there's no way I'd break up our team.

"You have to."

"Katie..." I need to explain this to her without... explaining everything, "I'm like, one half of her support system. I can't just drop out of her life. She needs someone to talk to that isn't Marcus."

"She has other friends you know."

Not that she can talk to about what her real problems are, "Yeah, well Marcus still want's me to keep an eye out for her, help her through school and everything. She's still barely holding it together from her Dad dieing. You don't just bounce back from something like that Katie, she's just a little g-"

"_I know who she is Dave!_I'm not STUPID! Okay? So can we just drop the masquerade for once?"

"You..." She...holy shit, how long has she known? "Then you should understand why I can't just stop seeing her.."

"That's _exactly_why I want you to stop seeing her."

…,"What?"

I don't like how she's looking at me. It's pain, jealousy, sadness, fear...hate, "I've seen how you look at her Dave. I thought I might just be imagining it, but I kept seeing it. And you're alone with her so much. You've spent entire nights alone with her. I don't know if I can trust you to be with her..."

No... no. God no. She can't know...she can't be serious, "What?" I try to laugh it off, "You are seeing things. Okay, yeah, she's my best friend, and we're close, but not as close as you and I are. And if you know who she is then you can imagine how I might feel a little in awe of her sometimes, but there's nothing between us but friendship."

Katies eye go wide and her mouth just hangs open, "Oh my god... " This is not good... "I thought you were just... I thought you just had some sort of fetish.. that you turned on by the leather, or the hair or the skirt, or even the violence of it... but you're...you're in love with her..."

No...no no no no no nononnononono

Her face shifts to horror, "oh my god, are you FUCKING her? She's fucked up enough that she probably would fuck you wouldn't she?"

"_WHAT?_ No! She's a little girl! I wouldn't do anything like that!"

"Oh, so you're just waiting for her to grow up, is that it? Got her 18th birthday marked on your calender? Maybe a countdown timer?

"Katie, no, I" I reach for her, try to hold her, assure her that I'm not going to try anything with Mindy.

"No!" she jerks away, "No more. We're done you sick fuck!"

The shock of the slap hurts more than the actual blow. I'm frozen. I-

"Get the FUCK out!"

Mindy. She's standing at the door. She's livid.

Katie suddenly seems terrified. Mindy steps to the side, making a path for Katie to take. Katie hurries out, but pauses for a second just after she passes her, looking at her. Mindy pulls her fist back and Katie flees.

Mindy steps into the room as I listen to Katie's footsteps going down the steps and out of the house, "Are you okay?" Mindy asks, "I can still go kick her ass if you want."

I feel weak, cold. I reach out grab hold of the punching bag, supporting myself on it. I feel like I'm going to cry, but there are no tears, "No. It's okay. Everything is fine."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Mako's Mesage: **I really like writing this story. Well, when it's not being creepy at least. It let's me show things that happened in _Precocious Crush_ that you couldn't see because Mindy wasn't there for it. For example, the break-up in the last chapter and the fight in this chapter. Yes, they ended differently, but they both started the same. Also, because the perspective is different it let's me get more detail into the little moments like the one at the end of this chapter, which also helps establish the relationship Dave and Mindy have in _Precocious Crush_.__ Well, here it is, so... Enjoy!_

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><p>The light is bright. I don't know where I am.<p>

I try to blink away the spots and finally make sense of something; I'm lying in bed.

I try to sit up, but it hurts. That's unusual. It doesn't feel like my bed either.

My eyes finally adjust and the first thing I see is Mindy. She's sitting cross legged on the foot of my bed, staring at me.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I don't know what she's talking about. Before I can say anything she continues, "They could have killed you!"

What is sh- oh.

"_Hey Childfucker."_

_God I wish they'd just leave me alone._

"_Still in school huh? You'd think they'd have kicked your disgusting ass out of here by now."_

"_Yeah, you shouldn't be allowed within fifty feet of a kid."_

"_We saw you watching the cheerleader tryouts"_

"_Were you there perv on your little girlfriend or all the freshmen trying out?"_

God I wish they'd just leave me alone.

"_Answer us fucker!"_

_I try to just outpace them but they grab me and throw me into the lockers._

"_We're sick of seeing you walking around like you're normal. Not a fucking sick freak praying on little kids."_

"_Yeah, if the school isn't going to do anything about your disgusting ass we will."_

_The first blow doesn't really phase me. I've had far worse. They're just warming up though, I can tell. They're just getting used to the idea of hitting me, they're holding back. Nothing I can do though. I can't risk giving myself away by kicking their asses. Besides, I deserve this._

_A crowd has gathered round to watch, yelling, "Fight fight fight!" and egging the guys on. I think I hear a few people yelling for me to fight back, but I can't._

_I look into the crowd and I see Mindy standing with Marty. She looks confused, scared. She's grabbing Marty's arm so hard her fingers are turning white. She keeps looking at me. Then she looks at Marty, then the floor then back to me. Her eyes are pleading, "fight back" they say. She bites her lip as she watches, scared, confused, and pleading. "Fight back. Please. Why aren't you fighting back?"_

_I can't answer her questions. I can't tell her it's because they're right. I am a sick fuck. That she does turn me on. That I love her._

_She doesn't take her eyes off of me, and I wish she would. I can't stand her seeing me like this. Pathetic. Beaten. Broken._

_Why wont she just look away? Look away. Please. Look away. . .  
><em>

"DAVE!"

Back to reality. "I...didn't want to give myself away."

"Bullshit. You could have put enough fight to not get your self fucking hospitalized without gi-" her voice drops to a whisper, "without giving your secret identity away. A couple blocked punches, a kick to the balls, something, anything but getting yourself beaten into a bloody pulp." I think I see a tear in her eye, but I'm sure I'm just imagining it, "They would've killed you too. They didn't stop after they knocked you out. If Marty and I hadn't stepped in once you stopped moving you'd be dead right now. So answer my question, what is your problem?"

"I..." stick to your guns. "really didn't think it'd go that far. I've gotten through worse, you know that. I figured they'd kick me around for a bit and then leave me alone."

"I know you're lying to me Dave. When I was jumped you beat the guy into a pulp. You didn't care about exposing yourself then."

She's right. I wasn't worried about anything but protecting her. Well, and making that piece of shit pay for hurting her. "That was different. And you're more important."

It takes her a moment to recover from that, "I am not! You're life is just as important as mine! You can't just throw yourself under a bus like that Dave! It's not like taking a bullet for me or something, there's no point risking your life for me when I'm not even in danger."

I nod my head in agreement. There's nothing else I can do. It's not like I can tell her, "Well, I really am I love with you and I do want to take you back to my room and do all sorts of dirty things to you so I felt like I deserved it."

Then she leans forward onto her hands and half crawls, half leaps onto me and hugs me. She says, "Don't ever do that again. I don't care where you are, who it is, or why they're doing it, if someone tries to kick your ass, you kick their ass right back."

I can't help but smile as I return her hug, "Is that a Firefly reference?"

She laughs a little and then sniffs like she's been crying and says, "Not intentionally, no"

I stroke her hair and apologize, "I'm sorry. I didn't think it'd be that bad. I didn't want to worry you."

She sits up, and puts on that false bravado I've seen her wear more than a few times, "I wasn't worried about you, Ass. I just didn't want to have to try and find a new partner."

I give her a small smile and say, "Well, I'm glad to know I'm sorta irreplaceable."

She tosses her hair and looks away with her nose in the air, "Oh, you're totally replaceable. I just don't feel like putting in all the work it'll take just to get my new sidekick up to your level."

Excuse me? "S_idekick?_"

"Of course," she says smirking at me, "I'm the one with the money, the equipment, the skills, the experience, AND I'm the one training _you._ So yeah, you're my sidekick."

Oh, so that's how it is? I quickly sit up and wrap my arm around her neck, pulling her backwards against my chest and holding her there, "What happened to 'partners' huh? HUH?"

"Gha- you...call...this a...chokehold?" and she elbows me in the ribs just hard enough for me to feel it, which would be plenty hard for anyone else, and I let her go. "See?" she says, "Pathetic. And you want to be my partner." She shakes her head and then skips laughing out of the way as I grab for her again. "I need to go tell your Dad your awake, and then I need to get going," she smiles sadly and says, "There's the meeting tonight and I should tell everyone you're gonna be out of commission for a couple days."

"See you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, I'll come by after school. I can't stay long though, Dillon's taking me out tomorrow night." She blushes faintly then shrugs, "He's been planning it for awhile, I'd hate to disappoint him by canceling."

It hurts in ways it really shouldn't, but I just smile and nod, "Of course, don't worry about it. I look forward to hearing all about it."

She smiles and hangs off the door frame as she walks off, "You really are a girls best friend." then she turns and disappears, yelling down the hall, "Mr. L! He's awake!"

I lay back in my bed and close my eyes. God my life is fucked up.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Mako's Message:** This chapter wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the request of fans. It also should have been up this morning, but there were...complications._

_Let me know what you think of Mindy in this chapter. I had my reasons for it, but I'm worried I might have taken her a bit too far._

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><p>"Mindy…" I don't know why I'm doing this. "I need to tell you something," I really shouldn't be doing this…<p>

She looks at me curiously, "What is it?" Her eye are wide and expectant, waiting for me to speak. I wish she wouldn't look at me like that. She looks even younger than she is, trusting, looking up to me.

"Remember what Katie said when she broke up with me? About me being in love with you?"

Her brow scrunches up in confusion and she looks adorable, "Yeah. What about it?"

"It was true. I am in love with you, and I can't stop thinking about you."

She sighs and smiles sadly at me. She looks more like she usually does. Mature beyond her years. She steps over to me and puts her hand on my cheek, "Oh, Dave, that's…really fucking sick."

The pain of the knife going into my gut is all too familiar.

My knees are the first thing to go and I collapse onto the floor, staring up at her, not really surprised.

She paces back and forth, "You brought this on yourself you know. I mean, you could have just not aid anything and I could just keep ignoring it when I feel your dick pressing into me whenever you hug me, or we sit on the couch, or we share a bed at the safehouse. Fuck, looking back on it, the way you'd hold me you were practically molesting me. But I was willing to ignore it." Her pace picks up, and she starts gesticulating wildly, "You though? No, you just _had_ to go and confess to it. Didn't you? And what else was I supposed to do now that I know you've been perving on me all this time? You sick fuck. You should know better than anyone what my dad taught me to do if anyone tried to touch to me."

"Knife in the nuts." I manage to croak out.

"Exactly! Be glad I spared you THAT agony at least. But seriously, why? The one thing I was trained to kill with even less hesitation or thought than D'Amicos men was pedophiles and child molesters. So why? Why did you have to say that?" She kneels down on floor next to me, her face sad, perhaps regretful. Though I now it's not for what she did. If I'm not imagining it, it's for what could have been, "We were friends. Partners even. Why did you ruin that?" She strokes my hair and sighs, "Well, I guess it's for the best anyway. I can take of myself, sure, but I'd have grown up and you'd have turned your attention to some other little girl who couldn't, and another after her, and after her, so really there wasn't anything to do but put you down."

She's looking at me curiously again, that look of childhood innocence back on her face, "You still with me Dave?" She leans in close, looking into my eyes like she's trying to see if my soul is still in there, "Dave? DAVE!"

My eyes jerk open and Mind'ys face is about an inch from mine. Panic floods my system and sends me scrambling backwards and toppling off my bed and onto the floor, "Jesus Christ! Don't DO that!"

Mindy laughs at me from where she's sitting on my bed, "Aw, but it's so funny."

"Maybe to you," I mutter rubbing at my wrist, hoping I didn't sprain it by landing on it all wrong.

"Well, consider it my revenge for you not coming to the 'no-more-rumors-about-Dave-being-a-pedo party'. I mean, seriously, it was pretty much _your_ party. Why didn't you want to go?"

Because after the beating you gave that guy who came onto you I didn't feel comfortable around you. "I haven't been sleeping well, I just wanted to try and catch up on some sleep."

She snorts, "Lame."

"Right, sorry, I forgot how much you love falling asleep on the job."

Her mouth drops open in outrage and she hurls my pillow at me, "Shut up!" Her face is flushed, not quite a blush, but as close as she's likely to ever get. It makes her look even prettier

"So, how about you give me a few minutes to get dressed and then we'll go do something?"

She smirks at me, "Need some time alone huh?"

No, actually, not after that dream, "No, I just don't think I should be getting dressed in front of a twelve-year-old girl."

"Dude. You get undressed around me all the time. Hell, we've slept in the same bed, I'm pretty sure I've felt your morning wood against my leg a time or two."

I have no doubt that my face shows every ounce of horror I feel after hearing her say as she breaks off in the middle of whatever it was she was saying and into peals of laughter.

She recovers before I do. "Oh my god. Fuck. Man, your face was priceless," she says as she wipes a tear from her eye. She says, "Okay, okay, I'm done fucking with you. I'll go downstairs and you can get dressed, "And she walks over to the door. "Just don't keep me waiting too long, iIf you take more than five minutes I'll know what you're up to." She smirks then laughs again, like silver bells, "Okay, NOW I'm done,"

She leaves the room, and shuts the door behind her. When it clicks I let myself fall back to the floor. "I am so fucking screwed."


	7. Chapter 7

**_Mako's Message:_**_ I was rereading the reviews of this story, and I realized that this story has so much more potential than I was letting it show. The original reason I wanted to write this was to show certain bits of _Precocious Crush _from Dave's perspective without giving away what's actually going on with him. And I admit, flipping certain scenes and the consequences of them had their appeal as well. Not to mention getting to show Mindy trying to date normal boys would be a lot of fun. But I have not letting this story fly as freely as I should, keeping it limited to only showing mirrors of PC chapters, and while I was going to get away from that, there was still so much more I could have been showing between those chapters. So here's something a little different. Enjoy._

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><p>"It's healing nicely."<p>

Riley's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "Hmm?"

"You're leg," she says, and runs a finger across the stitches running down my thigh. I barely notice the touch. "It's really healing well. How much longer are they supposed to stay in?"

I run my fingers through her hair, smiling at the sight of it splayed out across my stomach, "They're going to be taken out this weekend."

"So you'll be all set for Homecoming?"

"Yup. Fit as a fiddle."

"Good." She rolls over to look at me, "Did I show you the dress I bought?"

I can't help smiling, "No and stop trying to. I told you I want to be surprised."

She sticks her tongue out at me and I'm reminded how adorable she is. "C'mere."

She smiles and pushes herself up towards me. I kiss her. She kisses me back.

It's really good.

She stops and says, smiling at me,"You've never kissed me first before."

I smile, but I don't really feel like it. I actually feel kinda dirty. I like Riley, I just don't love her. If she hadn't insisted that it was just something we could do for fun, for stress relief, I'd never have let it get this far.

She kisses me again. Just a quick peck on the lips. "You're drifting again."

"Sorry."

"So, what made you decide to kiss me?"

"I guess you're just too appealing for me to resist forever."

"Hmm." She really is appealing. Probably the hottest girl I've ever met. "I knew I'd wear you down eventually." And she is a really, really good kisser. "God, you're always so tense. I swear you're just a giant bundle of nerves. It's no wonder you dropped a knife in your leg. It was only a matter of time, really."

"Well, ya know, high-school. Work. It's a lot."

She laughs. I like her laugh. A lot. "Just wait until you get to college and you have bills to pay."

I do my best exaggerated shudder. She laughs and squeezes me. It's nice.

"It'll be fun to go to Homecoming. I haven't been on a real date in years."

Seriously? "Seriously?"

"Mmm-hmm. I've been so busy with school and work that I really haven't had time for anything."

"What about during the summer?"

She looks at me like I'm crazy, "You worked there and you asked that?"

"Well..."

"Oh, right. I forgot. _You_ weren't working full time. _I_-" she stabs a finger towards the ceiling, "had to work as many hours as I could get to make sure I had money through the winter."

"Well, excuse me for still living at home."

"Pfft" she waves her hand, "Enjoy your free ride while it lasts. Wish I had. I couldn't wait to get out of the house." Sometimes when she looks at me I get the feeling it's the same way a wolf looks at a rabbit. And I like it. "Speaking of free rides..."

God, why I couldn't have fallen in love with _this_ girl?


	8. Chapter 8

_**Mako's Message:** I apologize for the decline in the rate of updates. I assure you it's not intentional. That said, I hope it should be clear that this is a very different Homecoming dance than the one seen in _Precocious Crush_, but I still want to specify that, unfortunately, that is NOT the dress she wore in PC. I'm not even sure where it came from. It kind of coalesced out several different things really... Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter._

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><p>I'm having a hard time enjoying myself.<p>

I mean, I should be having the time of my life. I'm at Homecoming with the most beautiful girl I've ever met...second most beautiful girl I've ever met. Which is kind of the problem. I'm trying to forget that Mindy is supposed to be coming here with Dillon and not keep watching the door for her.

I try to focus on the fact that every guy here who isn't in love with the girl they brought is wishing they were me. Because Riley _is_ beautiful. Gorgeous even. And she's smart _and_ funny. And...she's amazing. She really is. She's just...missing something. A spark. I guess. Something that makes her unique. Because as incredible as this girl is, I know she's not one of a kind. One in a thousand perhaps. Hell, maybe even one in a million.

And there's only one Mindy.

But Mindy, despite everything else, is a 12-year-old girl who likes My Little Pony and Hello Kitty. Who giggles about boys with her friends and will still put her hair in pigtails every now and then. Who takes a childish delight in what she enjoys, even if some of the things that she enjoys are curb stomping gang members and gutting drug dealers. Because she _is_ a child.

A warped, damaged, and emotionally needy child who I'm supposed to be watching out for and helping get through a life that isn't nothing but blood, guns, and comics.

Not fantasizing about warping and damaging her even more. Even if, with the way she jokes around with me, I probably wouldn't be corrupting her all that much...

And with a great amount of effort I rip myself away from that train of thought and focus on the drinks I'm supposed to be getting for me and Riley.

"Hey."

I look up and see Marty, grinning like the cat that caught the canary, "Hey."

"So did you see my date?"

Ha. Of course. "Yeah Marty, I saw her. Tonight and when you pointed her out to me the other day.

"Didn't think I could pull it off did you?"

Pfft. "Marty, you managed to snag Erika while you were a chubby dork. Getting another girl while you're just a dork isn't that impressive."

"Yes, but this girl is _hotter_ than Erika, and I wasn't hanging out with her because my friend was hanging out with, and then dating, _her_ friend before I made my move."

...okay, maybe he has a point. "Whatever dude."

"Fuck you man," he's laughing though, "Just because you got Riley doesn't mean it's easy for the rest of us geeks."

"Yeah. Riley just kind of happened. No idea what I did deserve her falling into my lap." Nothing. I _don't_ deserve her.

"Oh, did you see Todd?"

Uh..."No."

"He came stag but I lost track of him awhile ago. Lemme know if you see him, okay?"

"Sure thing." Todd came by himself? Huh. Was not expecting that... God damn how could it be this hard to find Riley? With that dress on she's like a fucking beacon!

"Dave? Dave!" Oh. There she is. "There you are! I was wondering what was taking so long. Come look at our little punk rock princess."

What is sh- oh...my...god...SHIT! Don't drop the drinks.

Stop smirking at me like that Mindy...god damn...That is...half a dress.

I try, really, really hard, not to run my eyes over every inch of her, but it's really hard. She's wearing this...ruffled...layered skirt, except only half of it is there. It almost looks like it was cut off of her from her left hip to her right ankle. And what is up with that glove...it's got...are those ribbons? Black purple and pink ribbons? Twisting up her arm all the way to her shoulder. Oh God why is that so hot? And that is...Jesus. Even when we went to the pool her chest was covered more than that and it's never been so painfully obvious before that she does have breasts now. Small ones, but they're hard to ignore in that dress. Fucking hell her eyes. What possessed Marcus to let her leave the house dressed like that? ! Fuck. I know Angela has been helping her with makeup and shit but she had to have had her eyes done professionally. There is just no other explanation. And with her hair pulled up like that...I've compared her to a rare and exotic bird a few times, privately, but it's never been more fitting than now with her hair done up like a crest of feathers.

"Striking isn't she?"

I jump at Riley's whispered comment into my ear.

"Yeah. You could say that."

Mindy's smirking at me again. I hate it when she looks at me like that. About as much as I love it. Then she closes her eyes and looks down at the floor before bringing her eyes back up to me, "Thanks Dave."

And that's when I finally notice Dillon on her arm. He's grinning broadly and looks like he might explode from pride. He's probably the only male here that doesn't wish he was with Riley.

"Looks like you're the second luckiest guy here," I say to him, thinking some cautionary damage control might be in order.

"Oh?" Mindy says, quirking up an eyebrow, "Who's the luckiest then?"

"Me." I say as I wrap and arm around Riley's waist and kiss her.

"And don't you forget it" she says as she pushed back against me with her hip.

Mindy rolls her eyes, "Of course."

The music starts up again, "You want to dance?"

She smiles at me and says, "Of course."

I wish I could say I was a great dancer. I'm not. But, I'm good enough that I'm not making a fool of myself. Unlike Mindy and Dillon. It's kind of nice to see her being awkward and unsure. I need every reminder I can get that she's not as mature as she pretends to be.

I have a hard time not watching her though. I try to keep focused on Riley but I keep catching my gaze drifting.

After a couple songs we get flagged down by Angela, and she and Riley strike up a conversation. Her date and I nod at each other but don't speak. I look around the room, trying to spot...Todd. I don't see he-him though. I suddenly see Dillon walking over towards the table. Alone. He sits down across from me and I ask, "Lose your date?"

Angela says, "Oh, we lost track of Jessi so Mindy said she was going to go look for her and asked him to wait here."

Ah. If what Mindy's said about the kind of guys she always seems to end up with is true I completely understand her wanting Dillon to stay at the table. Hope she doesn't get blood on the dress. It'd be a shame if it got ruined.

Mindy comes back soon after wearing an annoyed but triumphant expression with a slightly embarrassed yet somehow happy Jessi in tow.

Mindy catches my eye and smirks and rolls her eyes. I smirk back knowing exactly what she means as I wonder just what she did to the poor bastard. Probably deserved it though.

Riley taps me on my shoulder and asks, "Want to go for a walk?"

"Sure."

He get up and head for the door arm in arm. She doesn't say anything until we're outside and well away from the door and in near darkness, "Dave. I need to ask you something."

I don't like this. What ever this is she wanted to make sure we were alone. "Hmm?"

"Do you-" there's a hitch her breath and she starts over, "Are you... You really are in love with Mindy aren't you?"

What...the...fuck.

"It's just...they way you looked at her...I don't think you've ever even looked at me like that, and, not to be narcissistic or anything but I have it on pretty good authority that I'm really hot."

Ha. "Oh you are. Anybody who can see lightning can tell that."

She let's out a soft little noise, almost a laugh but not quite.

Then after a moment she says, "You're avoiding the question."

…

"You can be honest with me. I just...need to know."

Fuck. Fucking fucker fuck. I really shouldn't do this. I REALLY shouldn't do this...but I've wished I could tell someone. Confess. I don't know why. So they can tell me it's okay? So they can call the cops and send me to jail where I wont have to deal with the temptation of Mindy anymore? But I never did. Not anyone. But...if I could tell anyone...I think it'd be Riley. … "Yes."

She's silent. For a really long time.

"Is that what you're into then? Young girls? I mean, do you really find me attractive?"

"No. I, wait. Not 'no' to.." okay, shit. Stop, regroup. … "I think you're amazingly beautiful Riley. I wasn't making shit up earlier. I really am the luckiest guy here that you wanted to come with me."

She scoffs, "We're not really dating, Dave. Remember? Keep it casual..." There was something weird about the way she said that, then way she drifted off... "What I mean is you don't have to flatter me."

"I'm not flattering you. You really are beautiful, and incredibly hot. Trust me. I'm not 'in to' young girls. It's only her. There's...something special about her."

She snorts, "Yeah. I know what you mean."

We stand silent in the darkness for a minute before she says, "Let's go back in and say goodbye. But I want us to go to our own homes."

That's...not unexpected. "Okay."

"I need time to think."

I knew I shouldn't have said anything. Nothing good will come of this. "Take all the time you need."

We go back in and say our goodbyes. Mindy winks at me and I fake a smile back at her. Riley calls a cab and I wait with her for it to come.

When it does, she opens the door and climbs in, but stops halfway. She turns back to me and says, "Hide it better." then kisses me lightly on the cheek and climbs in and shuts the door and the cab drives off.

I watch it until it's out of sight, then just stare out into the night.

…

…

…

…

I think I'll walk home.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Mako's Message: ** To those of you that have me on Author Alert and actually read all my stuff, yes, I have been busy. _

_Anyway, this chapter was something I almost put up immediately after the last one. I also have the next one more or less planned out as well, but I'm gonna hold off on it as well just to keep the pace the same..._

_Also, I'm aware that there are still some people who think this is _Precocious Crush_ from Dave's perspective. Yes, it is similar. Yes, several events and characters are the same. I assure though that this is not a different POV on that story. Hopefully this chapter should remove that idea from anyone who still holds it._

_No, enjoy the story!  
><em>

__Oh, and sign the petition at _**change **dot** org **slash** petitions **slash** fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of-fanfiction-net **please._

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><p>The worst part about this whole thing is that now I feel bad for hurting Riley. She hasn't been avoiding me, or been rude, or mean, or anything but what you'd expect from a coworker. But she doesn't talk to me any more, not about anything that doesn't have to do with work, and when she does talk to me I can tell she's hurting.<p>

So now, not only have I lost a friend I have the guilt from hurting her on top of the urge to crawl out of my own skin anytime I realize I'm fantasizing about Mindy.

Yeah, I didn't really have a problem with it before since I felt confident in my ability to not actually do anything to her, and keep my desires entirely in my head. But just by admitting them to someone, I hurt that person and now I disgust myself just by thinking about her. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I actually got myself off while thinking about her so I've avoided getting myself off at all.

And that hasn't helped my stress levels at.

Suddenly there's the sound of my window opening and the source of my problems hops in. "Hey. What's up?"

"Nothing," I say. I glance over at her and admit to myself that it's not fair to say she's the source of my problems. I'M the source of my problems. I watch her wander around my room, poking at my stuff. She's got something on her mind. I turn back to my computer and ask, "Why do you always come in through the window? We have a perfectly good front door you know."

I can see her look over and smile in her reflection in the monitor, "Because it's more fun," she says, "And I don't always come in through the window. Just when your dad isn't home."

I spin my chair around to look at her and say, "So what's on your mind?"

She looks up from an old snap together Gundam model my grandma bought me when I was eight and asks, "What makes you think there's something on my mind?"

"Because I can read you like a book."

She laughs and says, "Oh, like you're so hard to figure out?"

"Harder than you are," I smirk at her. "Now spill, the doctor is in and shit."

Mindy rolls her eyes, sighs, and falls backwards onto my bed. Her shirt rides up, exposing her navel and I try to force myself not to look, but it's hard to stop my gaze from drifting so I end up keeping my eyes on the ceiling. She's staring at the ceiling too so I doubt she'll notice. "It's Dillon," she finally says.

"What about him?"

"I think I'm gonna break up with him."

Oh. Poor kid. "How come?"

"I don't know!" she cries, slamming her fists down on the bed, "That's the problem."

I shouldn't laugh at her problems since it's kind of a triumph for her to be having these problems at all, but it's hard not to, "So, the problem is that there's no problem?"

"Yes! No! Fuck you." she says and throws a pillow at me.

Okay, nobody can blame me for laughing at that. "So if there's no problem, why do you want to break up with him?"

"Because there isn't anything there."

"Explain."

She takes a deeps breath, folds her hands over her stomach, I look back at the ceiling, and she says, "Dillon's nice. He really is. And he's fun. It's not like I don't _enjoy_ spending time with him, there's just no...spark I guess is the word. Sure, making out is fun, but even the-"

Wait. Back up. "What."

"I said making out is fun, but-"

Do not need that mental image. "Don't you think you're a little young to be making out?"

God that was a stupid thing to say and Mindy knows it.

"I'm a little young to do a lot of the things I do." she smirks at me, "But don't go getting your panties in a wad, we kept it all above the waist."

..._really_ don't need THAT mental image. Also don't need to strangle Dillon, no matter how appealing it sounds right now. Not like it's even his fault. It was probably her idea to do...whatever it is they did and that's as far as I'm going to let that thought go. And what boy his age wouldn't go as far as the girl was willing?

Focus Dave. The doctor is in, remember? You have a job to do. "So, the problem is that you want to break up with Dillon because you have no reason to stay with him, but you don't have any reason to break up with him."

"Yes."

"Ya know, that's a good thing. For you at least."

Mindy sits up and stares at me, "How is that a good thing?"

"It means you care about his feelings."

"I care about peoples feelings."

"Whose?"

"Angela, Jessi, Marcus, you."

"And Dillon?"

"Yes, 'and Dillon'," she says with a roll of her eyes.

"Well, normally you don't give a shit about what anyone thinks of you, but here you're actually stressing out because you don't want to hurt someone else's feelings. We'll turn you into a proper young lady yet."

She flops back onto the bed while flipping me off with both hands.

"Okay, so, the only thing you really like about being Dillon's girlfriend is making out with him. Do I have that right?"

"Pretty much yeah. Aside from that there's nothing special about him."

"Is there another boy who caught your interest?"

She shifts around on the bed, but doesn't answer.

"I take it that's a yes?"

"It's a 'I don't know'. There are cute boys in my classes. I notice them. They notice me."

"No one specific though?"

"No. No one specific."

"Do you want to date other boys?"

More fidgeting. Finally she says, "Maybe."

"Does Dillon like you?"

She sighs, "Yeah."

"A lot?"

"Yeah."

"Then you know what you have to do?"

"Stick it out?"

I smile. She's a good kid. She really is. "No. You need to break up with him."

"What?" She sits up, shocked, again.

"You like Dillon, but you don't have any real interest in him, and other boys are catching your interest, and he really likes you. So, your relationship is going to end. And the sooner you do it the less you lead Dillon on and the less it'll hurt when you do it."

"When the hell did you learn so much about relationships?"

Heh. I shrug and say, "I watched a lot of chick flicks with Katie."

Mindy snorts. So much for turning her into a little lady, "At least that bitch was good for something."

...huh. That was interesting... that actually kind of stung... Ah well, it's true. I've called her the same. Still, it's nice to know that I haven't lost all feeling for girls that aren't Mindy. Still. It'd be nice if I hurt more from Riley not talking to me than I would if Mindy stopped speaking to me.

"I guess you're right. I should just break up with him...would it make it easier on him if I let him feel me up one last time before I do it, or would that be cruel?"

Oh for fucks sake!

I can hear her laughing at me as I cover my face with my hands and beat my head against my desk.

"Aww, did I give wittle Davie too much info-may-shun?"

"Yes. Yes you did."

I hear her laughter getting closer until she hip checks me and says, "Budge over. I wanna play a game."

I happily get up and head for the bathroom, where I intend to beat off to fantasies about women- OLDER women, with big tits, round asses, and legs that don't stop.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Mako's Message:** Heh. been awhile, huh? This is a scene I've had in mind for awhile. I'm gonna have at least one more chapter coming up soon, just to try and catch things up to PC a little. Hope you enjoy.  
><em>

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><p>I'm going over the plan to take down Chris and his little clubhouse of horrors. I'm going over the plan again and again, burning it into my brain. I'm trying to remember every little nook and cranny in that place. Where all the arcade cabinets are, the tables, the computers, the chairs, the couches. Anything that could provide cover for me or an enemy.<p>

Trying to remember who worked there and who was just a kid looking for a good time.

That's when I feel her touch my shoulder.

Riley hasn't spoken to me more than absolutely necessary since Homecoming.

"Are you okay?" she asks. What am I supposed to say to that? "You've seemed really tense lately. I've been worried."

Ugh. I just..."I'm fine. I've just had a lot on my mind lately."

"Are you sure?" Both hands now, almost rubbing my shoulders.

"Yeah. I'll be fine."

"I'm sorry about...ya know. It's just a lot to take in."

"Believe me, I know."

"Well, I just wanted you to know I'm still your friend, and you can still talk to me about your problems."

Ha.

Hahaha.

Heheheheheeheheeheheheeheheh ehehehe

Oh god don't laugh. Don't laugh. Eat it. EAT IT. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."

I hear her sigh, and then I feel her wrap her arms around me and hug me. Tightly. "I just want you to be okay."

This is nice. Really. I like this. "I'll be fine."

"If you say so. Just...no more acting like strangers, okay?"

"Yeah."

If I live.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Mako's Message:** Bet you weren't expecting to see another one of these already were you? But, it was being the most cooperative of my stories, so it's what i finished first. I tried to get a nice balance here between sweet and creepy, hope it worked, and I hope you all enjoy it._

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><p>Mindy seems to think I'm invulnerable to pain. Or, that's what she makes it seem like she thinks. I've been tempted to explain that this really isn't the case, and that while, yes, some of my nerves are so damaged and scared that it is possible for me to not feel anything there, those areas of total insensitivity are few and far between. Her apparent envy of this and respect for my ability to take a beating is the only reason I hide how much pain I'm actually in.<p>

But that's also why I enjoy a good soak whenever I can.

It feels good to just sit and let the warmth soak into my muscles. Just close my eyes and let myself float, relaxing completely.

_I'm surrounded by screaming kids. I try to shove them past me, get the ones that want to run out of the way as fast as possible, before the real fighting starts._

_The first attack isn't even from a cunt. I don't even know if he's just attacking out of fear, or if he actually wants to side with these people. It doesn't matter though, the punch is easily dodged and one solid one of my own to the side of his head drops him. The others aren't much more difficult. They have almost no ability to defend. They leave themselves wide open, and one they're down they just don't have it in them to get back up._

_This would be so much harder if they all weren't such pussies._

Of course, that does tend to make my mind wander into places I wish it wouldn't go.

_I get caught up with some more cunts and Mindy gets ahead of me. Mindy gets ambushed and I can't get to her, I'm still stuck. I see the blow coming and it's going to split her in half but I can't-_

_WHY WONT THESE MOTHERFUCKERS LET GO OF ME! FIGHT SOMEONE ELSE YOU COCKSUCKING FUCKHOLES!_

_Shield saves her. Saves her because I couldn't. But I'm finally free of those assholes and we head up to the next floor._

It's not like it was my fault. I don't know why they swarmed me. I did everything I could to get through, and I shouldn't feel bad about not being the one to have her back. That's what a team is for. I should be grateful to Shield for saving her, not resentful.

And he blew a hole right in the middle of their defenses on the next floor. We might have been stuck there forever without him.

Heh. It was kinda funny when that one guy jumped out the window to get away from Mindy. She can be so cute when she's frustrated...

"_Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!"_

_The stream of bullets is so solid it looks like a laser cutting into the wall. Mindy can't get a look around that corner for more than a fraction of a second._

_She finally unclips a grenade, says, "Fuck this bitch." and chucks it around the corner. When it blows she follows it up with a smoke grenade and we rush out._

The memory of seeing Mindy getting beaten to a pulp is not one I want to relieve. I do have to wonder what possessed me to hit that freak in the head with a weight. If I'd just stabbed her or something I could have saved myself a hell of a beating.

Mindy was a bruised and bloody mess when she saved me. Totally beaten to hell. But I don't think I've ever seen her look quite so pleased. She held that woman's head up and gave me this look that just said, "Didn't I do good?"

Reminds me of the first night we met. Only it doesn't freak me out anymore.

Well, not as much.

Then there was that who- What the hell?

"Mindy, what the hell," Did she really just throw my boxers on my head?

"I saw you soaking in there and it looked really nice, but I didn't want to kick you out so I figured I'd just join you. You'll have to put those on first though."

…

She can't be serious.

"You can't be serious."

She's laughing at me, "I am. Unless you want to get out."

I really shouldn't...really. But I wasn't planning on getting out any time soon...

"Okay fine," I start to get up to put my underwear on when I notice she's still looking at me. "Uh...aren't you going to turn around?"

"Pfft. It's not like I care if I see you naked, but whatever, you big pussy." and she rolls her eyes and turns around, "Do you want me to cover my eyes too?"

"Whatever. I'm done."

"Sweet." And she just climbs in a t-shirt and underwear. She settles down in between my legs and rests her head on my chest, "This is nice, but the water needs to be hotter," and then she reaches out with her foot and turns the hot water on.

Mindy has very nice legs.

…

She's also not wearing a bra. Godamnit. Don't look down. And sit up more so her ass isn't against your crotch while you're at it. Now put your hands somewhere else. Somewhere where they won't touch Mindy.

"God damn you're tense Dave. No wonder you wanted to soak in here." Then twists around and looks up at me, "Ya know, if you keep your hands up like that you're just going to cramp your shoulders," and then she grabs my hands and pulls them around her, "It's not like this a hot tub, I figured there would be physical contact so you don't have to act like I'll burn you if touch me." And then, with my hands resting on her stomach, she settles back against my chest and lets out a little sigh. "See? Isn't this so much better?"

I'm an idiot for allowing myself to get into this position. It's just so tempting to look at, or touch, things I really shouldn't. It'd be easy. I could just say my hand slipped. But what would I really gain from doing that? Wouldn't I just want more than that, like I want more than this? It's best to just accept this moment that was, literally, dropped in my lap. …besides. She actually seems really happy where she is. There is no reason I should do anything to ruin her moment of contentment for a second of thrill for me.

I wrap my arms around her just little more securely to make sure my hands don't slip and lean back in the tub and close my eyes, "Yeah. It is."


	12. Chapter 12

**_Mako's Message: T_**_his is an odd sort of message for an odd sort of chapter. I had to cover a few scenes, and i wasn't really sure how to go about it. Lemme know if you think it doesn't work. Just gotta keep the ball rolling now. Might even surpass PC just this once..._

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><p>This has been an unusual Christmas, to say the least.<p>

It started out normally; a nice breakfast, exchanging gifts, that sort of thing. Then Dad asked me if I had any plans for the day, and I said that I did have some plans for the afternoon, but I'd be back in time for Christmas Dinner.

That's when he waved me off and said, "Don't worry about it. If you wanted to spend the night with Riley I'm not going to stop you. Especially since I'm going out with Cayla tonight."

When he mentioned Riley, I started drifting off into thinking about her, and how great it was that we'd repaired our relationship almost to the point where it was back to how it was before homecoming. Then he mentioned Cayla and my train of thought suddenly shifted rails, "A Christmas date, huh? Things are getting serious then?"

He laughed at that, saying that maybe they were, maybe they weren't, but either way I didn't have to worry about having a step-mom anytime soon. I'm honestly surprised he's ended up with another young woman in a year. I mean, the relationship with Tamara was pretty obviously a rebound for both of them since they met in grief counseling, but Cayla might be something else. But she's one year closer to my age than his, so it's kind of weird. And she's actually really hot and my Dad is closer to fifty than forty so I have no idea how that happened.

But, Riley is...was into me, and she's ridiculously hot, so maybe it's a genetic thing that I finally came into.

So, with Dad having released me of any family obligations for the holiday, I headed off to meet Riley.

Which was really nice. We went ice skating, where I discovered that she has horrible balance. Still, it was fun. We talked, we joked, we had hot chocolate, and afterwords we went for a walk around the city to look at decorations.

But eventually I had to leave, Justice Forever hadn't even considered taking Chris' promise of a crime free Christmas at all seriously so I was part of an early evening patrol.

Riley wanted me to come by her party after I was done having dinner with my Dad, and since that wasn't happening I told her I'd be sure to be there.

So, then I met up with White Mage, The Gentlman, and Doctor Gravity for patrol.

I gotta admit I miss patroling with just Mindy. Not for any perverted reasons, just because I feel we work better together than we do on a team. With all the time we've spent together, out of costume just hanging out or in costume training, we know each other like the back of our hands. We don't have to worry about what the other is doing. Being in a group throws all that off.

But in times like these, having a few extra sets of eyes watching your back is worth the risk of stepping each others toes.

I just hope we can put Chris in a cell before too much longer.

Or in a casket. I'm not picky.

Of course, being split up from Mindy and being in a bigger patrol group would be more fun if we weren't...as on edge as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Heh. Always wanted a reason to say that.

Another reason I don't like it is because when we're grouped together like that we can't cover as much ground. And with as few of us as there are, that's a big problem.

Of course, that just makes Chris' Christmas Truce so freaking bizarre. None of us could believe he was serious. It had to be a cover up, or a distraction, or something.

Which was why we were all set and ready for a fight when we ran into a group of Cunts. But then...nothing. Well, not "nothing". After a brief staredown, one of them said "Merry Christmas" and started to cross the street to go around us, while the other's sort of said it too and a couple even waved.

And we just stood there, watching, trying to figure out when the other shoe was going to drop.

That's when White Mage said, "So, we're just going to let them walk away?"

Then Doctor Gravity said, "Yeah, we should get these guys while we have the chance."

Then The Gentlman said, "Excuse me, but I believe that attacking someone who has done nothing but wish us a happy holiday would make us, as you would say, 'the douchebags' here."

And as much as I hated to admit it, The Gentleman had a point. How are we supposed to call ourselves heroes is we go around attacking people who aren't doing anything wrong? I mean, yeah, they _did_ do stuff, and they probably _would_ do stuff later, but they weren't doing stuff NOW. Even if we went over and told them to submit to arrest, and they did, what would be the point? There's no evidence of them committing a crime so the police probably wouldn't even process them. Especially with how that place practically has a revolving door for these guys.

After that, we decided that if they weren't going to attack US of all people when they meet us out on the street after they've been on a bloody warpath of revenge for the last month we decided to head in early.

Of course, that might have been the whole goal, to make us look the other way for a night. But then, that's why I've been checking my phone every two minutes for any sign that we got suckered.

But Riley was happy to see me early. And Marty and Todd were pleased about it too. Of course, Marty was too busy telling the ladies about his costumed escapades to say much more than "Hey! Great to see you made it!" It's stupid of him, really, considering. But I think the girls assume he's bullshitting them, but the stories are interesting enough that they still listen.

And right now I'm watching Todd getting pulled into a bedroom by Riley's tipsy roommate Kirsten.

So like I said, today has been weird.

Still good to see Todd finally getting laid though.

"Hey you!" Riley pounces on me from behind, almost making me drop my phone and spilling my drink. "What're you doing over here by yourself?"

"Oh, just thinking about stuff."

"Mindy?" she says with a teasing sing-song voice.

"No, actually."

"Oh really?" and she grabs my phone, "Then who've you been texting all night!" but then she sees that the last texts I got from Mindy were this morning, "Merry Christmas", and last night, "Maybe Kiara isn't a /total/ bitch-whore."

Then she turns her eyes from the phone to me and says, "Ya know, I've been thinking about how you said you're not 'into' little girls, and how Mindy was the exception.

Uh... "And?"

"I've decided I don't believe you."

Whoa, wait, what? Why? I thought we were cool. I thought she'd gotten over the whol-

"I think," she says, leaning in real close to me, "You're going to have to prove it to me," and she nips my ear.

I changed my mind. This is a fucking awesome Christmas.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Mako's Message: **Another chapter that exists because of fan request. Also because at it's request I thought of a really funny way to do it. I don't think it ended up being all that funny though. Damn staying true to character._

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><p>I stumble into work, still in a daze from what happened at school. I collapse onto one of the stools at the counter and my head hits the counter.<p>

I hear Riley's voice, "Welcome to Ne- Oh. Dave? You okay?"

"It was everywhere."

"Uh...okay. What was everywhere?"

"Mindy's panties. Everywhere I looked, there they were. Everywhere panties."

I hear a sound that I assume is Riley smothering her laughter. I don't know if she's laughing at me for being bothered by this, or at my reaction. I don't care.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry but that's hilari- wait. Why are her panties all over school?"

Sigh. "She got in a fight yesterday. She kicked the guy in the head and someone got a picture up her skirt."

"Oh. She win?"

That pulls me out of my daze just enough to shoot her a "did you just ask that?" look.

"Of course she did. Silly me."

"The picture was sent all over the school. Someone printed a few hundred copies and put them up all over the school."

"Oh. Damn. That sucks."

It gets worse. "People kept stuffing them in my locker. Every time I opened it there were more of them."

She sighs and says, "You poor thing," and I think I hear genuine concern. "You must have felt like a recovering alcoholic suddenly finding himself in a bar. And it can't help that you're...that you feel the way you do."

Heh. I'd say it's more like a drug, but the addiction analogy works. Recovered, never cured.

Sigh. "It bothers you, doesn't?" That's a dumbass question. Of course she's bothered by it.

Pause. Sigh. Here it comes, "Okay, I'm gonna admit it's kinda creepy that you're so into a 12-year-old, but I trust you that Mindy is just a special case. I mean, I can tell she's not like any other 12-year-old, and I've seen a LOT of 12-year-olds come in here over the years. And I know you're a nice guy and would never do anything to hurt anyone... So seeing you here, so tortured by seeing her panties all over school... I feel bad for you. Not bothered by it."

"Even though..."

"Though what? Oh! You mean us. No. No, of course not. I mean, if anything it really does prove that Mindy is the exception not the rule. Besides, we both know I only want you for your body." Laughter. "Not like I have time to have an actual relationship with someone. If it wasn't for you I'd be on my way to a second year of enforced abstinence."

Huh...well, that's something at least. I guess I was wrong about her.

"Besides. I've checked your browser history. No one into little girls would spend that much time on MILF hunter dot com."

...if I had the emotional energy to be, that might have mortified me.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Mako's Message: **And here, for once, Only Her is _ahead_ of Precocious Crush. Just for this chapter though. I might need to advance this story passed PC again in the future, but that's probably a ways off. _

_This chapter is another example of why I decided to write this. They aren't the same story, but if you read both, this one will enhance the other. And, for the most part, you need to read PC to understand most of what is going on here. -shrug-_

_Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter._

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><p>As I sit here, crammed into a booth with Marty, Todd, Mindy, Angela, and Jessi at Atomic Comics, I'm not sure if I should feel proud...well, not proud, justified, I guess, or angry, or sick.<p>

Marty is the first to speak,"So, all of these are from guys asking you out for Valentine's Day?" he asks, referring to the pile of cards and notes on the table.

"No, this pile is just the one's that didn't ask me out, or even sign them, plus one from Dillon, but it's just as friends."

"You sure about that?" Angela says, nudging her in the ribs.

Mindy rolls her eyes and says, "Considering he has a girlfriend and thanked me for helping him get one, yes, I'm sure. And, I think one of these is from a girl too."

Jessi almost goes scarlet at that and refuses to look up from whoever she's texting. Jessi's always been kind of weird like that. She's the one of them that's been the most interested in getting a boyfriend, despite Mindy having had the longest relationship between the three of them, and Angela who, even though flirts with almost anyone with a dick, has only gone out on one date(as far as I know), which I don't think she even counts considering how annoyed she was with the guy. And yet, she's also the most squeamish about sex and pretty much anything relating to it. She also dresses in the most revealing clothing.

Mindy is almost always in layers, for example, and Angela likes to wear shirts that are either billowy or could be a really skimpy dress if she was feeling daring, but Jessi? She tends to always wear something that exposes her midrif and or is really tight. I don't get it at all.

"_These_," Mindy suddenly continues, pulling a stack of about a dozen cards out of he bag and fanning them out across the table, except for one that she holds on to, "Are the ones asking me out."

"And...you want us to help you pick?" Todd asks, sounding as confused as I feel.

Mindy nods, "Yup! I figure between the five of you I should get at least one piece of good advice," and passes around the cards. Except for one.

"I don't know how you got so many guys interested in you," Angela says as she opens the first card.

"I think you're forgetting that crotch shot of me that was plastered all over the school." for a second, Angela looks like she's actually considering that before Mindy dope slaps her, "That was not a suggestion!"

"Okay," Marty says, "Don't pick this guy. 'Roses are red, your panties were blue, on Valentines, show me something new'? I'm all for the direct approach but that's just sleazy."

"Put it face down over there," Mindy says, then goes back to reading the card she's been holding on to the first time.

Todd puts down his cards, "I don't know how I'm supposed to help you. I only recognized one of the names in these cards, but I don't know anything about the person."

"Just do what Marty did," she says waving his concern off, "I didn't actually think that was that bad, but if Marty does then I should take his advice."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I have a very skewed perspective. I just thought the guy was being an ass but I didn't realize he was someone I should avoid at all costs."

"Oh."

"You're also a chauvinistic perv."

"HEY!"

Mindy's laughter and Marty's outburst start drawing attention, "Keep it down," I say and put a card down in the reject pile.

"What was wrong with that guy?" Angela asks.

"It was a junior."

The next card is perfectly fine. Perfect actually. The guy is obviously trying to get into her pants. As I put it into the reject pile I look over at Mindy who is still reading, or rereading, the same card. I try not to grind my teeth.

"This one is from Bobby Frist," Jessi says, speaking for the first time since Mindy explained why she wanted us all here, "he's...nice." I feel my eye start to twitch.

"Okay, put it face up here," she says, tapping the spot in front of her. "Anybody else find any keepers?"

Todd sighs and picks up all his cards and puts them all down in front of Mindy, "I can't say anything for these guys, but I don't see any reason to reject them either."

Mindy looks at the cards and then shrugs and starts reading that same damn card again. I can see her start to smile.

Looking down at the next card in my pile I read a generic note and immediately toss it on the reject pile.

"This guy sounds nice," and Angela puts another card in "OK" pile.

I turn my focus back to the last card in my hand...

_Mindy,_

_You are one awesome chick. _

_Will you go out with me for Valentines Day? _

_I was thinking we could go see "I Am Bruce Lee"._

_-Jason Kurst_

...holy shit.

"Another reject?" Angela asks.

"Oh, yeah. Totally not her kind of guy." I'm going to hell aren't I?

Marty puts another card in the "For Consideration" pile and the dumps the rest of his in the "Rejected" pile.

Jessi puts the rest of hers with the rejects, as does Angela.

Mindy finally puts down that card and starts looking through the others.

Todd and Angela go get some drinks and I try to take my mind off of Mindy picking a date for Valentine's Day. I can't stop myself from flicking my eyes back to her ever couple of minutes. She keeps picking up that same damn card.

After awhile Angela asks, "So who are you going to go out with?"

Mindy looks up with a small smile on her face, "I'm gonna go with this guy," she says, holding up that card.

Of course she is. I don't think it was ever a question, even if she didn't realize it.

"So, uh, why him?" Jessi asks, peaking at the card.

"All the other cards were slipped in my locker. This guy, Ian, actually _handed_ the card to me. I like that."

"Oh."

"I just hope he doesn't mind if we don't actually go out on Valentine's Day," she looks up and gives me the 'you know what I'm talking about' look, "I have other plans for that day."

...I have no idea what she's talking about.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Mako's Message:** I hit a bit of a slump. Not a block, since I've had lots of ideas. It's just been hard to put words on the screen. But, now that I've managed this, hopefully I'll be able to get more out, faster._

_A proper explanation should be in my forum soon._

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><p>"Jesus Christ"<p>

That's the most common phrase I've used over the last month.

Reading what Mindy did to that child predator? "Jesus Christ."

Waking up from newly inspired nightmares about what Mindy would do to me if she found out how I feel about her nearly every night? "Jesus Christ."

Finding out what Jessi did to her family? "Jesus Christ."

Finding out what Jessi's family did to_ her_? "Jesus Christ."

Watching her punch a guy until his face caved in? "Jesus Christ"

Carefully pulling her off the guy's body only to see tears mixing with the blood spatter, and her eyes looking as lost as I've seen them since the night her father died? "Jesus Christ"

Sitting in silence with her on a rooftop until sunrise, trying to come up with something I haven't already said, something that will actually work? "Jesus Christ."

Seeing her scraped and bleeding knuckles, that even with the reinforcements in her gloves I can't believe aren't broken? "Jesus Christ"

And sitting here with her, with her arms wrapped around me and her face nuzzled into my chest, not watching TV, not listening to music, not talking. Just holding her as she tries to deal with what I haven't been able to convince her isn't a massive failure on her part, because being there for her is all I can do.

And still not being able to squash thoughts of kissing her? "Jesus Christ."

I lift my hand from around her back and brush a few strands of hair that have fallen in her face behind her ear. She moves, I think she's going to get up, but she just adjusts and grips me tighter.

It's funny, in a tragic kind of way, that Mindy is having so much trouble with this. She can handle rapists, drug dealers, muggers, murderers, mobsters, child abductors and molesters without batting an eye. But this? A daughter being raped by her father and brother. By her family. People who are supposed to love and care for her. It's like a whole knew level of evil. Something dark and insidious that slips about unknown. An evil she can't fight.

It reminds me that in some ways, she is still innocent.

Suddenly there's a buzzing from her pocket and she sits up, "Damnit. I thought I put this thing on silent." She pulls her phone from her pocket and flicks it open and starts tapping out a text. The moment is broken and Mindy is back to her usual self. I can't help but smile at the change.

She smiles, just a little, and bites at her lip, and then after a moment taps out another reply. A few moments later she closes the phone and gets off the couch, "I'm gonna go meet Ian. He's been really nice about me putting off our date for so long, I really shouldn't put it off any longer."

"Have fun," I manage to say.

"I'm gonna try," she almost laughs, then says, "Thanks for being here for me. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you," and leans over and gives me a peck on my temple.

Then she grabs her backpack and is out the door.

Jesus Christ.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Mako's Message: **Well, here's another chapter of _Only Her_. Been awhile hasn't it? Ah well.  
><em>

_Anyway, Ch15 has received a minor rewrite/expansion if you're interested._

_If not, enjoy this chapter._

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><p>I fall to one knee after Mindy kicks me in the gut, and take a minute to catch my breath. Mindy doesn't seem to mind as she's doing the same. After a moment she says, "I think that's enough for today."<p>

I nod silently and fall back on to the grass expecting Mindy to do the same. Just like she did all last year when the weather was this nice. Instead, I hear her gathering her equipment up. I lift my head up to look at her, "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"Gonna go meet up with Ian."

Oh. "Okay, gimmie a second."

"No, that's okay. I know you like to lay out in the sun and it's not like I need an escort," she says with that infuriatingly cute smirk of hers.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Enjoy your day off. See ya!"

And with that she's gone.

...

Mindy's been spending a lot of time with Ian.

And I mean A LOT of time with Ian.

I probably wouldn't have thought too much of it...well, I would, but I'd have just brushed it off as jealousy, except that even Angela commented on it.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. Obviously I wish that she could be that interested in spending time with me. But every time that thought comes to mind I make sure to quickly shove it into the "not gonna happen" pile.

On the other hand, she seems...happy. She's acting more like a normal girl than I've ever seen her. She's even started wearing those dresses Marcus bought her. She's practically glowing at times.

Which only twists the knife deeper when I'm forced to remind myself that it's because she's with this other guy, and I need to just stop fucking thinking about her and leave her to her life. She deserves it.

But she's still spending a lot of time with this guy and it's starting to concern me.

It's hard to say just why, but I don't think she's taking those afternoon naps anymore. I mean...she just seems to be dragging some times.

She hasn't lost her enthusiasm or drive though. It's nothing like that. She's pushing just as hard when we train, and Marcus hasn't noticed any change in her workout routine. I know. I asked him.

It just feels like she's spending all her time that isn't devoted to our mission with Ian.

Again, I know, because Angela has been hanging out at NYBC a lot.

I don't like it. But Mindy is happy.

At least, I think she is. She _seems_ happy. But she's not acting like herself.

I don't know what to do.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Mako's Message: **Just a little something because it was bubbling up to the surface and was easy to let out. Also, I felt like both torturing Dave and letting him be a little pervy_

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><p>Mindy stretches a lot. She has to. Her greatest strength in a fight is her agility. Her ability to be nigh-untouchable. Speed alone isn't going to do that. She has to be able to bend and twist and flex out of the way of everything that comes her way.<p>

I've had to help her sew up slices in her costume from knives and bullet grazes too many times to not know just how close she's come to getting killed. Or at least seriously injured.

I'm not as lucky as she is, and I have the scars to prove it.

I worry about her sometimes, when I realize she's still growing and soon she's going to be a bigger, easier, target.

There are times though, that I wish she didn't have to stretch so much.

Like right now, for instance, when I'm three feet away from her doing my own cool down stretches and she's doing a split while bending backwards far enough for the top of her head to touch the floor. The fact that she's only wearing a sports bra and yoga pants isn't making this any easier on me either.

I'd just turn around and do my stretches facing the other direction, except that not only would that be suspicious as hell, we're talking.

"I think this weekend would be good. You actually have Saturday off for once, right?"

"Uh, yeah. One of our new guys is getting thrown into the fire for the first time. Riley's not exactly looking forward to it."

"This the guy that keeps flirting with her?"

"More like blatantly hitting on her."

Mindy finally un-arches her back to smirk at me, "Jealous?"

Surprisingly, "Not jealous, really, I know she'd never go for him."

Mindy quirks an eyebrow, "So you're okay with him hitting on you're girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend. We're just friends. And no, I'm not okay with him hitting on her. It aggravates the fuck out of me. But Riley can take care of herself. If she wants me to step in she'll ask."

"Oh yeah, she's _totally_ not your girlfriend. How many of our morning jogs have you canceled because you were at her place again?"

"I didn't- That has- We're...keeping it casual."

"Aww, are you embarrassed that I know you're banging Riley? That's so cute. And hilarious."

"Oh shut up," I try not to blush, mostly because she just implied that she's thought about my sex life and I'm trying to resist thinking about what her thinking about it might mean and...I just need to stop thinking about this AT ALL. It means nothing. She wasn't thinking about me banging Riley, she just knows. There's a world of difference so just stop-

"Dave..." I look up and see that while I was inside my head she'd gotten up and walked over to where she left her phone, which she's staring at with a mix of annoyance and confusion, "I've got another question for you."

"Uh, okay. Shoot."

"Bang." Lame. She smirks, sorta. She knows that was lame which means she must be nervous about whatever she's going to ask. "I haven't heard from Ian since yesterday. I texted him twice today but he hasn't responded, and I just called him and it went straight to voicemail...do you think he's avoiding me?"

Wow. I don't think I've ever seen Mindy look so unsure of herself. "Can you think of any reason he would be?" I can't.

"Well, no," and there's that self confident smirk of hers...at half power, "I mean, he certainly enjoyed my company the last time we were together."

...I'm sure they just had a great afternoon playing Call of Duty and making jokes. Yup, that's all that happened. Just playing some video games. Nothing to do with any physical contact between them. Nope. Not at all.

"Well, maybe his charger broke and his phone is dead? Or he got in trouble with his parents and they took it." Mindy noticeably brightens at that. "Just talk to him at school tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's probably it." She's all smiles again and heads for the shower, "Anyway, it's a shame Riley won't be able to come. I liked hanging out with her on Angela's Birthday. And she never did take us to see a movie."

Oh. Yeah. Total shame. Because that wouldn't be awkward at _all_.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Mako's Message: **So, this chapter is unique in that it's gone up on the same day as it's PC counter part. It's also a bit more...risque than any of the previous chapters, so, brace yourselves._

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><p>I'm standing on a rooftop, looking down at a crowd surrounding several police cars, a couple ambulances, and a fire truck. They're all excitedly talking about how Hit Girl and I just took out a meth lab in the building across the street.<p>

She stands beside me, look proud, smug, and every inch a hero. She turns her eyes to me, "Never gets old, does it?"

No. it doesn't.

"You were amazing in there," she says, "like you were on a whole 'nother level tonight."

Her words make me swell with pride until I feel like I'm going to burst.

"It was fucking hot," and she reaches up, puts her hand on the back of my head and pulls me into a kiss. Instead of ending, it only intensifies, with her reaching up and grabbing my head with her other hand as well, keeping me held to her tightly, she opens her mouth and her tongue enters mine. She arches up towards me, pressing against me. I can feel the ever so subtle softness of her breasts against my chest as she grinds her hips against mine.

Suddenly she pulls away. She's panting, her face is flushed and her eyes are full of lust, "C'mon, let's get back to safehouse so I can fuck you properly." she then turns and, with her hand tight around my wrist, drags me off.

At the safehouse, I stand outside the bedroom, knowing Mindy is waiting for me inside. I walk in, and she's kneeling on the bed. Her hair is pulled into pigtails, she's wearing a pale pink camisole, Hello Kitty panties, and her hands are resting on a teddy bear between her legs. The fire and passion from before is gone. She smiles at me sweetly, "I've been waiting for you."

She's a near perfect picture of innocence.

Confusion clouds her face, "Is something wrong? I thought you wanted this?"

I don't know what to say, I stand frozen, looking at her and unable to make a move towards her.

Suddenly her face darkens into a rage rarely seen before, "Ya know, you really need to hurry up and make up your fucking mind about this, Ass-Kicked. It's not like I'm gonna wait for you."

I flinch back at the sudden change and outburst. I blink.

And I'm staring at the ceiling of my room.

I clench my eyes shut and rub at them. I've had worse dreams.

I swing my legs off the bed and sit up. No morning wood, surprisingly. Or maybe not. That last part wasn't exactly erotic.

Mindy's birthday was yesterday, meaning today is her first full day as an oficial teenager. I wonder what kind of horror stories she'll have about the "Cheerleaders Only" Birthday party that was forced on her. Should make for fun conversation at Atomic Comics today. Not sure what I'll do until then though. With Mindy spending the night at Angela's our usual Sunday morning jog was canceled so I've got the whole morning free.

I should probably find her Birthday present. Paying for her ticket to Dark Shadows hardly counts since money is really NOT an issue with her.

Man, that was a trip. If that's what Mindy looks like in two more years I'm gonna have a bad time.

I should check my e-mail. Todd might have found that story he wanted me to read...

I blink, sure I'm reading this wrong. Mindy almost _never_ e-mails me. She'll call or text me, or if it's something online she wants me to see she'll come over and show me herself. Yet for some reason, it seems Mindy decided to e-mail me a file.

The file name makes no sense, but the file TYPE tells me it's a video. It must be something from the party.

Before the video actually starts playing, I can see Mindy taking up most of the screen and looking right into the camera. She seems to be in Angela's bedroom, and it looks like Angela is asleep on her bed, fully clothed, with her ass up in the air and her mouth hanging open.

Then it starts playing.

"Hi Dave!"she says, grinning widely. "Mss me?"

Oh...kay...

"Ah had- a LOT of fun...today. Da grrlss were lotsa fnn. Ah missd yoo doh. Mean, wut knda prrty is et wit awt muh best friend!?" Angela suddenly snorts and kicks her leg lightly but otherwise doesn't change position. Mindy looks at her and giggles then turns back to the camera and says, "Dun mind er. She's dunk"

Oh..my god...

"An ah wan'ed tu see wut ya got meh fur my birfday, cus yoo sed I hadda wait fer muh ACTUAL birfday. An ah was thinkin...and ah realized ah never got yoo nuthin christmas an ah felt bad. Thn ah rlzized you might not ged me ANYting cauz I didn't get you anything for Chrishmus."

Oh my god

"An then ah felt REALLY bad cauz I own-ee worried bout not getting you anyting because I wntd sumthin from you. And yer tooooo good a frien tuh do that, an you desrve a prsnt cause you do. Ya allwes help me wish stuff I shuld know allrdy an dun make me fll stoopid bout it. An yer always there ta listen when I have prahblms and you make tim fer me an youdon judge me."

She is totally fucking smashed.

"So, I was thinkin whut I shuld get you. But it's hard. Cause I could get you anudder gun, er a sword, or somethin. But I didn't wanna always get you sff like that. An ah though I could get you like, a game, or a comic, yeh know, maybe sumthing rare, or valuabel. But that wasn't good enough. You important to me. D most impornt person. Dunno whad I'd do witout you. So whatver I giv you has to be rlly special cause you're my best frind in the world."

Geez, Mindy, just knowing you feel that way is enough.

I can't help smiling. I feel like an idiot.

"An so, I remembered the girls talking about what guys want. An I know allota guys like me, think I'm pretty...or hot, or ya know, cause who knows what guys tink. Guess you do. So, I thought of something unique an special and meaninful and I know you'll love it."

…

What is she- holy shit.

I- I should stop watching this... I...

Oh wow...

No. No! Nononononnono.

Stop it. You shouldn't be seeing this. Just hit the stop button.

Hit the button and close the player.

Stop the video.

Stop it.

Stop.

…

Hours later I'm still kind of in shock and feeling like scum when I get a text from Mindy, "Did you check your e-mail today?"

I think about my response for a moment, "No. Why? What's up?"

There's a long pause and then, "One of the girls sent you a video of the party from my e-mail. It's really embarrassing. Could you be a good friend and just delete it without looking at it?"

"Sure thing."

"Thanks. You're the best."

Every trace of the video I could find is already gone. As is the e-mail itself.

It doesn't make a difference though. It's been permanently burned into my brain.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Mako's Message: **So...i wanted to upload this with the next chapter of PC...but it's not going so well, where as this just flowed liked a greased eel. So...here's this chapter. And no, the chapter didn't get cut off. And yes, I am a bastard. -smile-_

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><p>My mind keeps drifting back to her.<p>

It's stuck in my mind, driving the Hit-Mobile(she never asks me to drive that thing), while she sits in the passenger seat. Texting someone. Waiting. Then texting back. Repeat. I can tell she's getting more and more frustrated with every text until she's practically shaking. Tapping out a furious rhythm with her fingers, or her foot, constantly looking around, out the window, at her phone, at the ceiling, at the clock, her phone, me. Then her phone buzzed again, she glanced at it, then threw it down on the floor, pulled her feet up and kicked the dashboard repeatedly, all but screaming.

Eventually she calmed down. Her anger vented on the poor glove compartment. At least it seemed to be. She's sitting still for the first time since we got in the car, her chin resting in her hand as she stared out the window. She doesn't say anything for a long while. We were almost back to the safe house before she spoke again, "Dave, can I spend the night at your house?"

"What're you thinking about?"

I blink and look over at Riley, leaning on her arm as she looks down at me, "What?"

She smile's that insufferable, I-know-all, smile of hers, "You've been laying there staring at the ceiling for at least five minutes now, you're obviously thinking about something."

"I'm not thinking about anything, I was just...dozing."

"Yeah, sure you were. Was it Mindy?"

..."Yeah."

"Ya know, that's kind of insulting considering we're laying in bed together." I can't tell if she's serious or not, but it's true either way.

"Not like that."

"Sure it's not." Okay, that was her teasing me.

"Seriously. I'm worried about her."

"Is this because that boy she's dating?" Not sure about that one...

"No, she...

_Mindy's sitting on the floor breathing heavily and holding her stomach. Her face is bruised, there's a cut across her cheek right under her eye, and her wig is off center. She looks from me to the girl laying restrained on the floor as she struggles to free herself, seeming to switch from screaming to crying and back each second._

...got in a fight."

Riley winces, "She okay?"

_As Craig Ferguson wraps up the nights show, I look over at Mindy. Her head is resting against my shoulder and she's clutching my arm to her, her eyes are closed and her breath is soft and slow. I'm exhausted, but I can't let myself fall asleep here, not with her. But I don't want to disturb her by getting up._

"I don't know."

The bed shifts as Riley lays down on her side, looking at me. After a moment she says, "Do you think you'll ever get over Mindy?" and toys with a bit of my hair.

It's a difficult question. Every day I wish I didn't feel this way about her, but I can't imagine feeling this way about anyone else. "I don't know," I reach up and grab her hand and start playing with her fingers, "But if I ever do," I stop and hold on to one specific finger, "I'm going to put a ring on here."

She goes completely still, she's not even breathing, a look of utter shock on her face.

"What? You'd deserve it. And if anyone else could win my heart it'd be you."

Her face starts to turn red, slowly at first, but the redder it gets the faster it changes until she's in a full blush to the roots of her hair. Finally she springs into motion, grabbing her pillow and slamming it down on my face.

It's almost smothering, breathing is difficult but I can, and I can hear her mutter, "Idiot" or maybe it only sounds like she muttered it through the pillow, "Keep talking like that and you're going to ruin it."

I reach up and start to pull her hand away, she fights with me for a bit, and I pretend to struggle with her. She's pretty strong, but not strong enough to give me a real problem. Then she just lets go and I start to pretend to gasp for air only to realize maybe I wasn't getting as much oxygen as I thought.

When I recover I look over at her and she's sitting crosslegged on the bed, facing me with the sheets pulled up over her breasts. She's chewing on her lip and her head turned down. Finally she looks up and me and says, "There's actually something I've been wanting to ask you."


	20. Chapter 20

_**Mako's Message: **There were complications with this chapter, which is why it's a couple days late from what I told some of you. Ch20 seems like a big important chapter. It is in PC. I was hoping for this to be a bigger chapter for the occasion, but, again, complications._

_Hope you all enjoy it anyway._

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><p>Riley wants me to move in with her.<p>

Wow.

I mean, it's not like she's asking me to marry her...and I still have no idea why I said _that_. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And if I could just get Mindy off my mind I know there is no way I could find a better girl.

Sometimes I'm amazed that she puts up with me, and then she goes and asks me to move in. I mean, it's not like I'd be moving into her room, she just needs a new roommate since Kirsten is graduating. Still though, it'd be a step up in our relationship...

And what IS our relationship anyway? Fuck buddies? Nah, that's not right. Sounds like someone you only see for sex. Friends with benefits then? Yeah, that sounds closer.

Except...

URGH! What the fuck is wrong with me!? Why am I so hung up on Mindy? I mean, yeah, there are reasons; she's beautiful, smart, funny...she's incredible. I can't get her out of my head. And now that she's starting to..."fill out" it's only gotten worse. I'd love to be in a relationship with Riley, but it's like there's this emotional barrier. She's beautiful, smart, funny and just...amazing. She really is.

But I just can't find it in me to say I'm love with her.

And then there's the whole Kick-Ass thing. Hiding it from my Dad is easy. If he's not working nights he's going to bed early. He doesn't know when I get home most of the time. And he's not the type to snoop. I mean, my grades are good, he likes to see me working out and staying healthy. I'm doing good, or at least he thinks I am, so he gives me my space.

But Riley...

Riley will most likely notice me coming in at two or three AM. Even if she's just up late studying. She might try to do my laundry or just come clean my room to be nice. Or to snoop. How would I explain the not-uncommon blood stains on my clothes or the bandages? Sure, she bought the story about dropping a knife into my leg but I don't think lies like that will fly when I'm living with her.

Ugh. I should just do it. Rile-

The window opening catches my attention. I look over and see Mindy climbing in, but something seems off... "Mindy?"

She looks up and- what the fuck. Why is she crying?

"Ian broke up with me."

Oh hell.

She's standing there looking at me, frozen, waiting.

I start to lift my arms, but before they've moved more than an inch she's launched herself across the room, knocking me backwards onto the bed. I can't see her face, but I can hear that she's crying again.

"What happened?"

It takes her a minute, but she finally speaks, "I went- I went to the park, cause he plays basketball with his friends there." She sniffs, "And when I got there they were playing, and I stood over by the side of the court to watch them play. Then, one of his friends noticed me and pointed me out to him, and then he looked at me and he- he just ignored me. He didn't look at me at all for the entire game. And then-then when it was over, I went over to talk to him, and do you know what he said? He said 'Goddamnit Mindy'. Not 'Hey' or 'Hi' or 'What's up'. 'Godamnit Mindy.'"

What the hell...

"Then he asked what I was doing there, and I told him I came to see him. He said, 'Of course you did.' then said, 'Ya know, if I'd wanted you here I would have invited you.'"

That asshole.

"And I asked him why he didn't want me there and he said it was because I always wanted to be with him. That the earlier we met up the longer we were together and I never went home until I had to. He called me 'clingy' and said that I should have gotten the hint to back off when he started ignoring my calls and texts."

Ah shit.

"I thought I was being a good girlfriend. I liked the video games he liked, I liked the movies he liked, I thought we were having fun. I just liked being with him. It made me happy. And it helped me forget, it took up that space."

...'forget'? 'that space'...? Oh. Oh shit.

"I just- I just don't understand. I really thought he liked me, but he wouldn't even let me come over when I needed him the most. And now he just tells me he's sick of me. I don't- What did I do wrong?"

I can't help sighing. I reach a hand up and stroke her hair, "You didn't do anything wrong. If he wanted space, or just not seeing you every day, he should have said something instead of ignoring you and getting mad at you."

"Do you think I'm clingy?"

My inner asshole wants to make a joke about how she's clinging to me right now, but I stifle the urge. "No. I don't think you're clingy."

"So...can I stay here?"

"Don't you think you should go home?"

I feel rather than see her shake her head, "I just...I don't want Marcus to see me like this. He'd... I don't know. Dote on me. Or...I just don't want to deal with whatever he'd do."

Well..."Fine, but let him know where you are, and if he wants you to come home, go. Okay?"

Her response is to pull out her phone and start texting. A few seconds later she says, "Done," then pulls herself up so she's not laying on me and sits next to me on my bed. She yawns and asks, "Why am I so tired? We're usually up way later than this."

"Crying will wear you out."

"I've noticed," she says and wraps her arms around and rests her head against my arm. "Thank you."

"For?"

"For being my best friend."

"Well, you're my best friend."

"What about Riley?"

...the hell? "What about her?"

"Shouldn't your girlfriend be your best friend?"

"Was Ian your best friend?"

She snorts, "Okay, I see what you mean."

She goes silent for a bit, and just when I think she's fallen asleep she asks, "You're going to tell her yes, right?"

Huh? "Tell who yes about what?"

She let's go of my arm and nestles down into my pillow, looking up at me with bright eyes, "Riley, about moving in with her."

Ah..."She told you about that?"

She nods, "She wanted to know what I thought of it for some reason."

Why wou- oh...because- But why...

"You should say yes. You deserve someone like her."

"Oh do I?"

"After Katie? And being one of the biggest heroes in the city? Fuck yeah you deserve a girl like her." Her smile falters, and she says, "Wish I was that pretty," but I don't think I was supposed to hear that.

"Well, it's a shame Ian didn't know who he was dating or he'd never have broken up with you."

Mindy laughs, "Damn right he wouldn't have. And now he'll go the rest of his life never knowing he kissed Hit Girl."

Urgh. But you knew they had to have done at least that much. She made out with...Dillon after all.

Sometimes Mindy is full of confidence and bravado. She laughs and teases and boasts. Then, there are times when she seems to shrink in on herself. She looks smaller, more vulnerable. She does this now and says, "It still hurts though."

"Yeah, it stings doesn't it?"

She gives a weak little chuckle and says, "That's not the word I'd use."

"You're right. It's more like a hand grabbing your heart and squeezing."

"Is that what it felt like when Katie broke up with you?"

..."Yeah," and then some.

She's quiet for awhile, and then she pokes me and I look down to see her looking up at me. She says, "I'm sorry."

Sorry? I don't understand "What are you sorry for?"

"Katie broke up with you because of me."

Ah. Sigh. "No, she didn't. You were just an easy target to attack. She was never happy with me going back on the streets. It just all came to a head that day."

"I really wanted to hurt her. The things she said..."

Okay, time to redirect this conversation, "Is this a not-so-subtle hint that you want me to punch Ian's teeth in?"

She grins and then turns it into a smirk, "I think I'm more than capable of taking care of it myself if I want his face broken." She smiles and nestles deeper into my pillow, "But he's not dating me anymore. I think that's punishment enough."

I can't help laughing, "Yeah. It is."

I lean back against the headboard and sit quietly, listening to her breathing, until it softens and takes on the steady rhythm of sleep. I sit for a few more moments before getting up.

The bed shifts and she lifts her head just off the pillow, her eyes half open, "Stay."

I sit back down and she lays her head back on the pillow and closes her eyes again. She's asleep within seconds. At least I think she is. I wait a few minutes longer this time before carefully sliding off the bed to the floor. She doesn't stir

I sit against the bed, and lean my head back on the mattress. It's not that comfortable, but it'll do. I'm sure as hell not sleeping in the same bed with her. This isn't like at the safehouse. That bed is bigger. I'd have to seriously spoon her for us both to fit on my bed. And not only would that be torturous, I'd have a raging hard on the entire night. There's no way she wouldn't notice. I don't think I'd even be able to sleep.

So if she wants me to stay, this is the best I can do.

I look over at her. Her face is calm. Not smiling, not grimacing. Just a completely flat, neutral expression. I guess that's a good thing, at least she's not having a nightmare.

… I shouldn't do it. I...but what could it hurt? But...I'm over thinking this. There's absolutely nothing wrong with...except it's me. … Fuck it.

Slowly, carefully, trying not to disturb the bed, I lean over and kiss her gently on the cheek, "Sweet dreams Mindy." Her lips twitch upwards then go back to neutral. Or maybe I imagined it.

I sit back down on the floor and try to make myself comfortable and fall asleep. This could be a long night otherwise.


	21. Chapter 21

Out of all the things I thought Mindy might say when she saw the building I was moving into, "How am I supposed to sneak into your bedroom now?" wasn't even on the list.

I had to admit it was nice to hear. That she didn't intend to let anything change. Don't know what Riley will think of Mindy inviting herself into her- our apartment though.

I lean over and whisper to her, "What? Hit Girl can't get in there?"

She smirks at me and whispers back, "Sure, I could, but do you expect me to gear up every time I want to drop by unannounced?"

It's an amusing thought. "There's a fire escape on the side. It's right outside my window."

She grins and says, "Sweet." then adjusts her grip on the box she's carrying and heads through the door Riley just came out of and up the stairs.

Riley turns and watches her go, then walks up to me and says, "Anything I should know about?"

"Not really. Just asking about visiting."

"Ah. Well, just remember the rules, she can come over whenever but if she's in your room keep the door open," then she winks at me, nudges me in the side, and heads back to the car for another box.

It's kind of depressing, really, seeing that my whole life was able to fit into one hatchback. But then, it really was only one room. And it was hardly my whole life.

When I take my box up to my room in the apartment, Mindy is leaning out the window.

"Not much a view," she says.

"No, but there's not much to see it from either."

"I noticed that," she says, smiling at me over her shoulder. She looks back out the window, "The fire escape is gonna make sneaking in here almost too easy."

"You could always try the door."

She snorts, "Where's the fun in that?"

"So are you two just going to stand around talking or carry boxes?" Riley asks as she comes in.

Mindy turns and smiles at her, still leaning against the window, "Oh, sorry, we were just discussing how I was going to sneak into his room without you knowing." he eyes go wide and she covers her mouth, "Oops. Forget I said anything."

Oh gods. Mindy. You know not what you do.

"Anyway! I'm gonna go get more stuff from the car." Mindy pretty much bounces across the room like, she doesn't have a care I the world.

Riley looks at me with raised eyebrows, "You sure you don't have anything to tell me?"

I stared at her deadpan for a moment, "No. There is nothing I need to tell you. That's just Mindy being Mindy. She likes fucking with people."

Then she grins at me, "Well, I guess as long as she's not fucking you there's no problem."

I hate to admit it at times, especially like now, but I don't know Riley as well as I know Mindy. So I can't be sure of when she's just messing with me. Well, I can't be a hundred percent with Mindy either, but I can be close. Most of the time.

But this time I'm pretty sure she's not being honest with me. She's reminding me too much of Mindy. "Riley, is there something you need to tell me?"

She smiles at me, but I can tell it's kind of a sad smile, "I can just see you two really like each other. And I know you want more, and I can't help feeling like if she was older you two would have gotten together a long time ago, but you two are still really great friends and I'm kinda jealous because it's just hard not to be when I see you together and I just wish I had someone who was as close a friend as you two are. And I really just said all that."

She sits down on the bed and buries her face in her hands.

I..."are you sure you're okay with all this? I mean...it's not like I couldn't use a reason to step back further from temptation a bit."

She looks up at me, and she looks like she's trying to...like she can't understand what I said. "Did you just seriously say you'd hang out with Mindy less if I want you to?"

"Uhm...yes?"

She smiles and giggles and hugs me, "You are such a sweet guy, but no, I'm not gonna ask you to do that. I hate it when I end up being the girl the comes between a guy and his friends." She starts nuzzling into my neck and says, "It makes me feel better that you offered though." and nips at my ear.

"Hey, come on now you two, can't you hold off until he's moved in at least?" my Dad says as he brings in another box, "Besides, we got a little lady around who we wouldn't want to walk in on anything."

"Sorry, Mr. Lizewski, won't happen again," Riley says then shoves me to my feet, "C'mon, get moving you, everybody else has moved more of your junk than you."


	22. Chapter 22

_**Mako's Message: **Boy is this over due. So much to do, so little time, not enough focus. Anyway, I'm sure you've been waiting for this long enough so let's just get on with the story._

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><p>It keeps running through my head. I can't stop seeing it.<p>

Just before I tucked my head to crash through the window, I see him standing there. He was leaning against the wall, with his arms across his chest a looking at the floor. His sword leaned against the wall next to him, He looked bored.

After we were through the windows I looked up to see his sword snapping up into his hand. He caught and drew it in one smooth motion, grinning at us. Everyone else has a moment of panic, in some cases more than a moment, but not this guy. It's like he was waiting for us to show up, and now that we have we've made his night.

Col. Stars and Dr. Gravity kick in the door then, yelling, "Hoo aah!" and "Booyakasha!"

Everyone else in the apartment turns their attention to the rest of Justice Forever storming in through the door. Everyone except this guy. He's steady as a rock, eyes fixed on us.

Hit Girl rushes him, the attack is quick and vicious, but the guy manages to easily block or evade every strike. Another man in the room pulls a gun and points it at me for a second before turning it on Hit Girl.

He'd have been better off shooting at me. It wouldn't have mattered. I was moving as soon as I saw him go for the gun and had him disarmed before his finger found the trigger. If he'd taken a shot at me he might have least gotten the trigger pulled though.

I break his arm and drop the magazine out of the gun then toss it aside.

Shred Ranger rushes past, charging our man in black, but his attack misses. The man in black bends backwards like he's limboing and turns it into a flip, his feet lashing out and pushing Hit Girl and Shred Ranger back.

He lands in a deep crouch, sword in one hand, sheath in the other. I strike. He blocks and at the same time stops Shred Ranger's attack and moves clear out of the way of Hit Girl's thrust. She leaps back, pulls a handful of knives and lets them fly. He hits the floor like he was magnetized but doesn't leave his feet. He's so low to the floor he reminds me of spider-man.

I kick at him but he rolls aside blocking Hit Girl and Shred Ranger's next attacks as he comes back to his feet.

If we weren't at least hitting something solid I'd think we were fighting a ghost.

He doesn't move much, just enough to not get hit. He never let us get between him and the door to the next room though. But what really bothers me is that he never actually attacked us. There were times when I knew one of us was open, but he ignored them in favor of staying on the defensive.

It bothers me because we had so much trouble with him not attacking us, that I'd hate to know how hard it would have been if he had.

There's a banging on the other side of the wall and someone yells, "Let's go! We're clear!" and he makes his one offensive move of the night.

He leaps into the air and does a double spin kick, followed with the sword and then the sheathe. We all jump out of the way and he bolts through the door into the next room. He doesn't climb out the window, he just dives through it. When we reach the window we see him kneeling on the roof of a van as it speeds away, and he gives us a little salute before they turn out of the alley.

Mindy is pissed and lets out a scream of rage and tries to launch herself out the window. They're gone though, there's no way she could catch up to them on foot at this point and she doesn't have a vehicle. I pull her back and we head into main room of the apartment, where we have five guys tied up. No drugs and no money though. She kicks one of the guys who managed to sit up in the ribs and storms off swearing.

And then it starts over again. Like I'm searching for some detail that will help.

All it does is make me hope none of us ever face that guy alone.

I'm so distracted I don't even notice Todd getting up and getting a drink until Angela starts talking, "So come on, you've got to let me join you guys! It'll be awesome."

It's probably because of what happened the other night, and how I can't stop going over it, and the fact that she's been begging for weeks to join us, but I can't help snapping at her, "No! It wouldn't be awesome! It'd be dangerous! What part of that aren't you getting!? Every person at this table has almost died out there! Some of us more than once!" I say, gesturing at Mindy and Marty.

Angela looks at me then says, "Okay, first, it can't be that bad or you two wouldn't still be doing this."

Obviously she doesn't realize Mindy and I are insane.

"Second, I'd be with you guys! You could watch my back and help me out. Isn't that the point of working on a team? Third, if you train me I'll be able to be one of the best superheroes in the city."

I see Mindy's lips twitch. Obviously Angela knows flattery will get her everywhere.

"Fourth, even if I just watch a door, isn't another person on the team a help when you do do those big Justice Forever busts? And speaking of Justice Forever, fifth, I don't think working in a soup kitchen or handing out blankets to the homeless is that dangerous."

Touche'.

"It's not the homeless and the hungry we're worried about Angela," Mindy said, "It's the Motherfucker. And the other crime families. And everyone out there who is just going to want to kill you because you're on the street in a costume. Trust me. The streets are no place for you."

"There are lots of people who aren't you and Dave. I mean, Dr. Gravity and The Gentleman aren't anybody special. They're just guys, aren't they?"

I said, "Yeah, they were. But they survived the Times Square Massacre. They've seen how bad it is out there first hand and lived to tell about it. That's better than ninety percent of the people there that day. It was a fucking bloodbath. I had to get a new suit my old one was so blood stained. And not all of it was other people's. We're not letting you walk into that."

"But it's not like that anymore!"

"Yes it is! The Shred Ranger-"

"Biker Knight."

"-almost lost a leg the last time we got into a fight with The Motherfucker.. It is _dangerous_ out there and none of us want to see you get hurt."

"Why don't you think I can do this? What's so special about you two?"

It was a good question. And I honestly felt the only answer was "we're luckier than most people." I didn't say that of course.

Mindy answered her, "What makes us special? I was trained for this since I was five. I wear kevlar down to my panties. I could kill everyone in this store in less than a minute without a weapon. And Dave? Dave's x-rays make him look fucking wolverine. At least half the bones in his body have steel reinforcement. The accident that broke all those bones in the first place also scarred the hell out of his nerves so he doesn't even feel half of what happens to him. And he's been trained by me for months before The Motherfucker climbed out from under his rock."

"So train me!" she' nearly screams. It's getting hard to keep our voices down.

"Fine" I say, "You want to go out and be a hero? Put a costume together and I'll take you out-"

"What?!"

"-and if you still want to be a hero once you see what it's really like out there, I'll train you."

"You will?"

"Excuse me? YOU'LL train her? I think you mean I'LL train her."

"You will?!"

"Oh dammit," Mindy says and sinks her head into her hands.

"What'd I miss?" Todd says as he sits back down with his drink.

"Oh, nothing much," Mindy says to him, then glares at me, "Just an old argument."

"Oh. Okay."

Crap.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Mako's Message: **Boy is THIS long over due. The only thing I can give as anything even close to an explanation is that I wasn't sure how to do the fight in this chapter. But after playing a fair bit of Arkham Origins, I realized that my own internal monologue during the fights would work pretty well, so that's what I tried to do. Anyone who's played on of the Batman Arkham games will probably see what I mean._

_Anyway, enough of me talking. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p>I have no idea what I'm going to do. This was just...<p>

This was a really fucking bad idea. What was I THINKING?!

Ugh. I wasn't. I just snapped. Tired of hearing her beg to go out despite all the danger.

Oh man, if anything happens to Angela, Mindy is going to KILL me.

But if I don't manage to show her enough danger to get her to call it quits, Mindy will kill me.

Sigh.

I'm a dead man.

Well, better get it over with. Dead man knocking.

She opens the door before I finish knocking and she- what the fuck...

"Fear me criminals, for I am Raikiri! The Lightning Blade!"

Oh god. "No."

"What?"

"No. You are not calling yourself that and you're definitely not going out dressed like that."

"What's wrong with my costume?"

"It's sparkling, electric blue, spandex."

"Yeah, so? It's super hero costume!"

"Well, first, spandex may give you great freedom of movement, but it won't protect you from anything. You'd be better off in a t-shirt and jeans. At least those won't tear as easily. Second, it's _sparkling electric blue_. You'll stand out more the damn signs in Time's Square."

"Mindy wears a bight purple wig."

"Oh yeah, cause purple hair is never seen in New York."

Heh. She's actually kinda cute when she scowls. Still got nothing on Mindy the Baby Otter.

"Third, blue is definitely not your color. It clashes horribly with your hair. You should be wearing, green, yellow-

"No bias there."

Ha ha. "Green, Yellow, Black, Gold, or even more Red. Those colors will go with your hair."

"I thought you were only pretending to be gay."

God. I'm never going to escape that am I? "Ha ha. If you're going to insist on wearing blue, you should wear a wig." Hmm... "You should probably wear a wig anyway."

She gasps and clutched at her hair.

"Or anything to cover your hair. It stands out almost as much as your costume."

"Yeah, cause I'm the only red head in New York."

Touche. "Fine." Ugh, we need to get going, "Okay, we don't have time for you to put something else together. Let's just get going. But first, put something on over that. You're not walking out of your front door in costume."

"Where's your costume anyway?"

"It's under my clothes."

"Wow, really? Isn't that hot?"

"No hotter than wearing the costume."

"Okay... I think I have something that'll cover this...

I can't believe I'm doing this.

When Angela comes back, she's wearing a long sundress and a cardigan. The cardigan looks a little odd for this weather, but I guess it was the best she could find.

I take her out and start running her through the rules for the night. Stay close to me unless there's a fight. If there is a fight, stay back from it. If I get overwhelmed, run.

She's not happy about me wanting her to stay out of any fights, even less happy with me wanting her to run if I start losing. I doubt that will happen, but I'm effectively on my own tonight so who knows?

I take her to an alley Mindy and I have used to change a few times before. We don't have a lot of these spots. Even if the clothes we stash here are just throw-aways we got from goodwill, we still don't leave them just behind any old dumpster. The alley has to have a good spot to hide the bags, decent cover for changing, and at least three ways out.

We change and stash our clothes, then head out on patrol.

I don't like this at all. It feels weird being out here without Mindy with me.

Actually, what's really got me on edge is the constant feeling that someone is going to take a shot at the newbie with me just because.

This isn't helped by all the people staring. Mostly at her. I get a couple high-fives and more then a couple, "Hey, you an Hit Girl Break up or somethin?"

Hardy har har.

We keep walking, no sign of trouble. Which relieves and annoyes me. If she thinks every night is this quiet she'll never give up on the hero thing. I mean, sure, four out of five days we don't run into anything on our own, but that's why we have a request line.

Of all the nights for there to be no "kinda dangerous" requests. No junkie boyfriends that need kicked out. No abusive husbands stalking their soon-to-be-ex-wives. I'd even be happy with a small drug deal. Sure, more likely to involve guns, but all the better to show why she shouldn't be out here.

Ugh. I hope Mindy is having a better night with Alice.

Probably gonna tell me how they broke up a car theft ring or something tomorrow. I swear those two have to be related.

Angela get's a couple cat calls from guys walking down the street. I'm gonna have to pull her aside when I get a chance and tell her not flirt back.

She's enjoying this too much.

Kinda reminds me of me back in the day.

"Kick-Ass!"

Eh?

"Kick-Ass! I need you help!"

Ah, here we go. "How can I help sir?"

"Can you get these assholes out of my parking lot? They came in and got carry out, and then they ate it out in the parking lot and started harassing the customers. Two couples just left their cars there because of them and at least three cars started to pull in and then left when they saw them."

"Have they hurt anyone?"

"A father was in here with two of his sons. They were around high-school or college age. They had a bit of a scuffle but the they got to their car okay in the end. I think."

Perfect. "No problem sir. It's what I'm here for."

"Why didn't they call the cops?" Angela asks.

"They may have. It can take awhile for them to respond to things like this. If there isn't someone in immediate danger."

"Okay...so, what do we do?"

"YOU do nothing except stay in the background. I'M going to go talk to them."

Angela "humphs" but starts dropping back as we near the parking lot.

"Hiya fellas!" I say. Always like to start friendly. Better to look like I'm trying to do this peacefully even when I know this is going to turn into a fight.

"Hey! Looks guys, it's Kick-Ass!" the guy, I assume the leader, says as he stands up and walks over. The other two come up and stand with him, at my three and nine. Yeah. This is going to be fight.

"I'm gonna need you to move along. You're disturbing the customers"

"Aww, but we like it here. And who's dat? Not your usual girl. Maybe she could join us."

"She's none of your concern."

"Oh, I dunno. She looks like she could be fun. Hey what's your name girlie?"

I move so I'm blocking his view of Angela, "I said she's none of your concern."

"Ya know, the more you wanna keep me from talking to her, the more I think I wanna talk to her."

He tries to step around me and I put an arm out to stop him, "You need to leave. Now. That way." I say, pointing towards the lot's alley exit.

The attack from behind is expected. I'd almost be disappointed if it didn't come. It's easily blocked, and I use my other hand to grab the leaders face and shove him backwards before he can try and hit me.

Third guy comes running in, but I have enough to punch second guy before kicking third guy in the gut.

Leader is coming at me again, block, counter STRIKE. That oughta hold him for a minute.

Second guy pulls a knife. Backhand to the face, grab his wrist, back kick third guy an- Duck!

Twist the wrist, kick the knife under a car. Flip him. St-

SHIT! Move. Dodge. Counter. Strike. Disarm and toss the bottle.

Lead- get off damn- MOTHERFUCKER! Mindy's not here dumbass, pay more attention.

Alright, stomp this fucker in the neck, block, counter, knee, slam him into the car, and fan kick the third guy.

Leader's up again and I SAID NO. BOTTLES! After breaking it over his head I toss the beer bottle over towards some dumpsters.

Third guy charging, drop, kick and flip.

Second guy trying to get, smash his head into the ground. That should keep him down for the rest of this.

Leader and third regrouping, gonna come at me together because they're stupid and didn't think of that earlier. Not that it'd have helped.

Intercept, deflect, kick, punch, backhand, trip into the wall, grab and knee to the face aaaaand... we're done here.

Two of them are unconscious, the leader of this merry band of dipshits is trying to get up, but keeps loosing his balance and falling over. He's not going anywhere.

When I look over at Angela she's a lot closer to the fight than she should be and she's staring at me wide eyed. "What?"

She blinks and seems to come to her senses, "Wow. That was... wow."

Heh. "That was nothing. I could have taken twice that many. And if Hit Girl had been here, that wouldn't have lasted even half as long as it did.

"Wow. Really?"

"Yeah, she said if we couldn't take six guys each then we didn't deserve to call ourselves super heroes."

She looks at the guys laying out on the ground, "I...think I'm ready to go home."

"Sure thing," I really don't mind. My head his throbbing.


End file.
